Managing Mischief
by Black Hawk
Summary: Hogwarts, Fourth Year. Wherein the marvelous adventures of the boy Marauders James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter are recorded.  Set in a modern AU.
1. The Dance

_**Author's Note:**__ This story is mostly comprised of tales my little sister and I made up as we played, pretending to be James and Sirius when she was young. I decided to not only write them all down for us, but to also add some new flourishes to make them a record of the lives of the Marauders at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed "living" it!_

**Managing Mischief**

**1. The Dance**

Remus winced as the back of his head was struck by a paper ball. He waited a moment then slyly pivoted in his seat to peer over his shoulder, careful not to catch the attention of Professor McGonagall. The students in the row of desks behind him all appeared perfectly innocent, their eyes latched onto their professor as she lectured the fourth years about the importance of attention to detail in Transfiguration. Remus returned his attention to the front of the room, but his peace was short lived. A minute later and the back of his head was struck again. He whipped around this time, just in time to see Margaret Cullen, a large, thick-boned Slytherin, tucking her hand back under her desk. Remus narrowed his amber eyes.

He had never paid much attention to Margaret before, but given her bulk, massive height, and unibrow, she was hard to miss. But why would she be targeting him now? Maybe she was a new friend of Snivillus'. Maybe she was –

"Mr. Lupin?"

Remus snapped his attention back to his teacher.

"What did I just say?"

Remus' normally pale face colored slightly. "Sorry, Professor, I don't know."

McGonagall sighed. "A little more focus, then, if you please."

"Yes, Professor."

Once class was over, Remus hurried to lunch at the Great Hall where he found his three best friends, James, Sirius, and Peter waiting for him. Peter had already eaten an entire serving of stew before Remus arrived and Sirius and James were only just starting on theirs. "How was class, Remus?" James asked before taking a bite.

"Something odd happened," Remus said, setting aside his messenger bag as he sat down. "You see her?" The three looked in the direction Remus jerked his head. "Not all at once!"

"Lily?" James asked.

Remus glanced over his shoulder. "No, not her. The girl with her. The big one."

"That's Margaret," said Peter around a mouthful of bread. "One of Evans' Slytherin friends. Probably Snivellus' cousin or something."

"At any rate," Remus said with a sigh. "She seems to be my new enemy. She kept chucking paper balls at the back of my head."

James furrowed his brow. "That's odd." Out of all of them, Remus was the smallest. Next came Sirius, then Peter, and James was a head taller than the other four, having hit his growth spurt early and shot up all at once. Peter had grown at a steady pace up and out, Remus was always smaller because of the toll his condition took on his body, and Sirius, well, maybe he would be a late bloomer. At any rate, James didn't like the idea of the shortest among them being targeted.

"Yes, well, we had to expect Snivellus to recruit reinforcements, didn't we?" Peter said. "It couldn't always be four-to-one. Now he's got Margaret, Lily, and what's that other girl's name? You know, the one with the ponytail and purple ribbon who always hangs out with them? I think she's a Hufflepuff. Anyway, now it's even."

James sighed. "Just what we need…" He looked across the table at Sirius, who had been unusually quiet all day and was now aimlessly prodding at his stew, his face half concealed by his black mop. "You all right, mate?"

Sirius didn't notice the question so Remus lightly nudged him. "Huh?"

"You're awfully quiet," Remus added.

"Oh, yeah, Large Marge and all that…" Sirius muttered. The other three burst into laughter at the nickname. Sirius smirked but the smile faded before he leaned across the table earnestly. "We have to make an agreement. I mean it."

"About what?" Peter asked, still giggling.

"About this stupid dance. If we're going at all, we're going together. Just us."

"Fine by me," Peter said, scraping the dregs of stew out of his bowl.

Sirius laid his hand on the tabletop. "Promise?"

Peter laid his on top of Sirius'. "Promise."

James and Remus exchanged a glance then followed suit. "We'll go together," Remus said.  
>"Together," James added.<p>

Sirius grinned. "Excellent." He felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders and finally tucked into his lunch. It was the first dance of the year, the Autumn Annual held on October 31st, and while many of the older students were abuzz with gossip about the event, the fourteen-year-old dreaded nothing more than being dragged into the messy adolescent world of holding hands with girls. Things were just fine the way they were and he didn't see why they needed to change.

Unfortunately, Sirius' comfort was short lived. Just as Herbology ended, Sirius caught sight of Marge making a beeline for Remus. Given that he and the werewolf were the only two of the Marauders in the class together, Sirius hastily shoved his textbook into his bag. Marge followed Remus out of the classroom. Sirius tried to dash out after her but was stopped by the crowd of students also packing up and exiting. He tried to shove his way through the crowd, only to be shoved back by Lily. Losing his footing, he slipped and landed hard on the seat of his pants. The redhead glared down at him, hands on her hips. "Just because you're a Black doesn't give you the right to shove other people about, Sirius."

Sirius screwed up his face and wanted to say something nasty, yet nothing came to mind, so instead he kicked at her foot. Lily glared and side-stepped his blow.

"Honestly!"

The classroom had largely cleared, and had Sirius been able to see out of the hair on the right side of his face, he would've seen Professor Sprout glance at the two and roll her eyes, pretending she didn't see since she didn't have the energy to discipline them. "You asked for it!" he barked.

With a groan, Lily extended her hand to help him up, though she didn't look happy about it. Sirius eyed her for a moment, wondering if this was some sort of trick, then took her hand and let the taller girl help him to his feet. "No 'thank you?'" she asked.

"You shouldn't do nice things expecting something back," Sirius responded, doing his best to sound like her.

"I'm not expecting something back, I'm expecting decency, but I guess that's too much to ask for." And with that, Lily swished out of the room. Sirius shouldered his bag and marched out after her, sticking his tongue out at her back. He was about to try to trip her, when he saw that Marge had little Remus pinned to the castle wall by his neck "Hey!" Sirius shouted, immediately sprinting to his friend's aid. Remus' eyes were wide, his hands clutching his Herbology textbook to his chest instead of his wand.

"You got that, Remus?" Marge asked in her impossibly deep, gravelly voice.

Remus nodded enthusiastically.

"Good." Marge released him and Remus did his best not to slump. "I'll be seeing you at seven, then."

She pulled away from the wall just as Sirius reached them. "Hey, you beast, lay off my –"

Marge casually knocked Sirius over with such force that he wondered if she were part Giant. "Outta my way, Skinny!" she growled then stalked off.

Sirius coughed, the wind having nearly been knocked out of him. In a moment, he felt Remus grabbing his arm, pulling him to his feet. "Are you all right?" Remus asked.

Sirius took a shuddering breath. "What is with these girls today?" He dusted off his robes then turned to look Remus up and down, dusting him off as well. "You all right?" Remus nodded, still clutching his book to his chest. "What the bloody hell happened? What's at seven?"

Remus swallowed hard, paling.

Sirius furrowed his brow. "Did she hurt you?"

Remus looked about to cry. "No… not really, but…"

Sirius pulled out his wand, ready to hunt her down. "But what?"

"She… she… she asked me to the dance on Friday."

Sirius felt as if the air had left him all over again. "She what?" He was suddenly torn between laughing and shivering with fear.

"She said she wants to go with me," Remus squeaked. "So I said yes."

Sirius' eyes widened. "You idiot!"

"I didn't have a choice! If I don't go, she'll do something awful, I know it!"

"Remus!"

"She might kill me!"

"But this is awful! What about our pact? You _promised_."

Remus had a tear or two shining in his eyes now and Sirius regretted raising his voice. The other boy was clearly traumatized. "I know I did, and I didn't mean to go back on my word, I just… she… I have no choice."

Sirius sighed. After how Marge had just flicked him like a fly, he knew there wasn't much use in trying to go up against her. "Yeah, well, it's not the end of the world, I guess. James and Peter and I will be there to look after you. You can hang out with us the whole time and just arrive with her."

Remus nodded enthusiastically, looking calmer. Sirius patted his shoulder and the two headed for the Gryffindor common room to fill James in on the situation. James listened to the story, a line forming between his brows when Sirius was done. Yet instead of commenting on Marge, he was stuck on the part about Lily.

"Hang on," he said. "You mean like, she shoved you? Over?"

Sirius blinked at his bespectacled friend. "It's what I just said, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but, I mean… she touched you… with both hands?"

Sirius straightened a little, his hand subconsciously going to his sweater where Lily's hands had been. "You reckon I've been cursed or something?"

"No… no," James bit his thumbnail. "What was her voice like when she talked to you? Did it sound like she was faking that she was angry?"

Sirius furrowed his brow. "No, she _was_ angry. Or annoyed. Whatever. What's this got to do with anything?"

"Nothing," James said, waving a hand dismissively. "Except that… you two, you know… when she helped you up…"

"We what?"

"Well, you… I mean, you must've… held hands. When she helped you up."

Sirius didn't even know what to say. He was sure he'd told James the story exactly as it had happened. How was his friend misconstruing facts? "We didn't hold hands, James, she helped me up!"

James' lip twitched a little and he lowered his voice. "What did it feel like?"

Sirius scowled. "What?"

"Her hand. What did it feel like?"

"For the last time," Sirius shouted, rising to his feet. "We didn't bloody hold hands!"

James blushed and just as Sirius realized the entire common room was staring at them, Remus yanked him back down.

"So… you don't like her then?" James whispered.

"Of course I don't!" Sirius hissed.

For a moment, a corner of James' mouth lifted.

"Why would you even ask that?" Sirius sneered.

"Well, I mean, look at Remus here. He was just minding his own business when Large Marge started to pick on him. Turned out she was picking on him 'cuz she liked him. What if Lily was picking on you 'cuz she likes you too?"

"NO," Sirius said, more forcefully than he meant to.

James grinned. "Excellent. Problem solved."

"What problem?" asked Peter.

"Well, I was worried that both Large Marge and Lily were going to ask one of us to the dance, pretending they like us, you see, when really they wanted to do something mean to us there. Like a trick."

Sirius narrowed his eyes as James spoke. There was something in the slightly older boy's voice that sounded suspicious, but Sirius couldn't place his finger on it.

That night, Remus couldn't sleep. He lay there, staring at the ceiling of their dormitory, feeling as if he were as white and cold as a ghost. Visions of Large Marge waltzing were plaguing his mind. She was abnormally large for her age, just as he was small, making her nearly twice as big as him. He was afraid that even if his friends were at the dance with him, they would be no match against her strength.

Peter was snoring and James was murmuring in his sleep. Sirius was twitching about, as if he was having his own nightmares. Remus sighed. Tomorrow was already Thursday. He needed to get some sleep. The end of the week was approaching far faster than he liked.

The following afternoon, James and Sirius took a stroll around the grounds after Care of Magical Creatures. Sirius always had a fondness for Hippogriffs so their path wandered to their paddock. James was keeping a few steps back, his hands in his pockets, kicking at any rocks they came upon. Sirius was a few paces ahead, swinging a stick about as if it were a sword, making the sound effects of the blade slicing through the air.

"So, Sirius," James began, his voice unusually strained.

"Yeah?" Sirius flicked some of his shaggy hair out of his grey eyes so that he could better see his imaginary opponent while they hoped for a Hippogriff to take an interest in them.

"I, um, I have something to tell you."

"All right." Sirius slashed at his imaginary enemy's legs.

"IaskedLilyEvanstothedance," James murmured so quickly and quietly that Sirius almost didn't hear him.

Sirius stopped fake fighting and turned to face his friend. "What?"

"I asked Lily to the dance," James repeated, his spine stiff.

Sirius dropped his stick. "Lily? But she's the enemy!"

"I know, and I'm not sure what happened, but we were in History of Magic together and it just slipped out. I don't even know why I said it. It was like I was possessed or something. But anyway, she said yes."

"But you _promised_!"

"I know! I'm sorry, but I didn't think it was a really _real_ promise –"

"What the bloody hell else would it be?"

"Well it's not breaking the promise! We agreed that we'd all go together. We're still all going together, just… with another person, as well."

"James!" Sirius grabbed at his own hair. "This isn't fair!"

"Well you could find a date, easy," James said.

"_Date_?"

"Yeah. Loads of girls would go with you if you asked. They think you're –"

"The point is to go – just the four of us! No girls! I can't believe I ever trusted you."

James sighed as Sirius continued their walk. "Well, it wasn't really me, was it? It was Remus who first ruined things."

"He didn't have a choice. You did. Now what am I supposed to do?"

"Just ask Stephanie, I'm sure she'd –"

"You don't get it," Sirius murmured. He grabbed another stick and broke it in half. "I'm not going at all then. I've been betrayed."

James sighed. "Well, if that's what you want."

"It isn't. What I wanted was for all of to –"

"I know. It'll still be fun. Don't worry," James said with a smile.

Sirius wanted to glare at his friend. Wanted to shout at him that he'd ruined everything and opened a door that couldn't be closed. Instead, he smiled meekly, hiding the revenge plot hatching in his mind. "You're right," he consented. "You go and have fun. Just because I won't be having any, doesn't mean you shouldn't."

James smirked and squeezed his shorter friends' shoulder before stepping by him. Sirius' smile grew sinister as James passed. Oh, he'd make sure this was a dance to remember, all right.

_**Please review!**_


	2. The Autumn Annual

**Managing Mischief**

**2. The Autumn Annual**

Sirius spent all afternoon Friday stealthily procuring what he needed: a few vials from Professor Slughorn's Potions closet, a flask from Filch's office, and several ingredients from the woods around Hagrid's Hut. Once everything was prepared, he slipped back into the dormitory and feigned nonchalance as he strolled past James. The taller boy was busy adjusting a tie and examining his dress robes in the mirror.

Sirius sighed, plopping down on his bed, and his eyes sliding over to Remus. The smaller boy was swinging his feet on the side of his bed, holding onto one of the four posters as if it would protect him from what lay ahead. Peter was already in bed, trying to sleep. He had mumbled something about not feeling well earlier in the day and had decided to skip the dance altogether in an attempt to get better. The fact that he refused to visit the hospital wing, however, made Sirius wonder if he were really just looking for an excuse to not be the only Marauder in attendance without a date.

"You're sure you won't go?" Remus asked, looking at Sirius.

Sirius propped himself up on one elbow. "Just stick with James, Remus. He and Lily will be together," Sirius saw James smirk at that, "so Marge and Lily can hang out while you and four-eyes do."

"What?" James furrowed his brow at his reflection.

"Huh?" Sirius raised his eyebrows, though no one could much see through his mop of hair.

"Does this look all right?" James asked, turning about in front of the mirror.

Sirius nodded, feigning concentration as he slipped a vile out from under his robes and hid it in his sleeve. "Yeah, absolutely dashing."

To his surprise, James grinned at his reflection instead of shooting back a sarcastic remark. Sirius narrowed his eyes. "Well," James said at last. "Best be off then. It's almost seven. C'mon, Remus."

Remus reluctantly slid off of his bed. In his shorts, stockings, vest and tie and slicked back hair, Remus looked more like a child than a teenager beneath his robes. He headed for the door with James, but then James doubled back to Sirius. "Hey, no hard feelings, right? It's just life."

Sirius forced a grin onto his face. "Yeah. I'll be working on my Transfiguration homework, anyway."

James smiled. "Perfect."

Sirius covertly tipped the vial in his sleeve, filling his palm with the viscous liquid. "Hey," he said, causing James to look at him over his shoulder. Sirius playfully tousled the taller boy's hair with his potion-covered hand. "Have fun."

James chuckled. "You too."

Once the two were gone and Sirius was alone with a sleeping Peter, he grinned.

James waited outside of the girl's dormitory while Remus went on to wait for Marge. His scalp was beginning to tingle, but before he could wonder about it, Lily appeared in a lavender dress, her hair pulled up into an elegant coiffeur, a few tasteful ringlets framing her face. "Wow," he whispered under his breath.

Lily heard and smiled bashfully. Her smile completely faded, however, when she met his eyes. Her expression turned to one of shock.

James furrowed his brow. "You all right?"

Lily nodded and the smile was back, though this time it was slightly mischievous. "Perfectly. Let's go."

James grinned and offered her his arm. She took it and together they strolled towards the Fat Lady's Portrait. Once in the castle hallway, James glanced at Lily. "Does the air feel cooler to you?"

She shook her head no and kept walking, deciding not to tell him that he was completely bald.

When the two met Remus and Marge, who looked like a doubled recipe of cinnamon roll dough stuffed into a small black garbage bag, Lily cut off their surprised expressions with a hand signal, telling them both to be quiet. "Hello, Marge," James said. "You look… very dressed up."

"So do you, Glasses."

The four of them entered the Great Hall which had been transformed, for the night, into a dance hall. The enchanted ceiling swirled in celestial constellations and little orange lights. Tables lined the sides of the room, laden with pumpkins, autumn leaves, cornucopias, and all sorts of cinnamon, nutmeg, and spice-filled dishes befitting the season: pumpkin muffins, candy corn, maple cookies, apple pies. James couldn't help but notice that everyone in the room turned their heads to look at him as he passed. He smiled to himself. He and Lily must make quite the couple to attract so much attention. Even Professor McGonagall was staring at him with wide eyes. Bet they all thought it was impossible for Lily to ever even like him.

Meanwhile, Sirius was slumped in an armchair in front of the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room, twirling his quill as he tried to work on his Transfiguration homework. He sighed and blew some of his long bangs out of his vision then glanced about the room. There were a surprising amount of people left, all quietly tucked away, looking mopey at missing the dance for whatever reason. He was beginning to regret his decision not to go, for he would've loved to have seen the other students' reaction to James' sudden baldness.

The potion he had concocted for his revenge had required less alcohol as a base than he had expected, and as such, he had nearly an entire flask of firewhiskey left over. Firewhiskey that could serve a most disruptive purpose. Sirius grinned, straightening in his chair. Maybe he would go to the dance after all. Just then, he realized that the rest of the people in the common room with him were girls. Not only girls, but the girls too unpopular, too insecure, too homely to have been asked to the dance. Sirius bit his lip, stewing for a moment, before leaping up and standing on the cushion of his chair.

"Why are we all moping about?" he barked, getting the girls' attention. "Because none of us got dates to the dance? Because we're all too ugly or stupid to have someone ask us?"

Several of the girls exchanged worried looks.

"Well who says the pretty and smart people get to rule the world?"

One of the older girls snorted at the irony of Sirius Black making such a statement, but apparently the rest of the common room was too enamored with his speech to notice.

"I, for one, am proud to be an ugly, stupid commoner. Besides, none of you are actually ugly. I mean, Brianna, sure you could wash your hair more often, and Stephanie, you really ought to try a breath mint every once in a while. But we're not that bad, are we?"

A chorus of "no's!" answered.

Sirius raised his arm. "Then will we suffer this discrimination?"

"No!"

"Will we allow the pretty, smart people to put us down?"

"No!"

"That's right! Now, I'm asking all of you to come to the dance as my date. Who's with me?"

Brianna's knees buckled but Stephanie kept her on her feet as the rest of the girls screamed that they would go with him.

Sirius hopped off his chair, tugged off his sweater, loosened his tie, and swept some of his hair back, deciding he was fancy enough. "Ladies?" He held out the crooks of his elbows, which every girl in the room fought for. And so, with seven dates, Sirius headed down to the dance.

James, meanwhile, was standing off to the side of the dance floor with Lily, awkwardly bobbing his head to the beat of the music. Marge had demanded punch and shoved Remus over to the table to get her some. Remus came back, walking slowly, carefully holding the two glasses so that they didn't spill. Marge accepted her glass with what she thought was a simpering smile but instead looked more like a hog baring its teeth. She downed her glass, then just as Remus was about to sip from his, swiped his and downed it as well.

"Sooo…" James began. "Having fun?" he asked Lily.

Lily gave him a smile that was entirely too fake.

"We could, maybe…" He was about to gesture to the dance floor when a gasp rose up from the students by the entrance. James looked up to spot Sirius strolling in, appearing to have massive, woman wings. "Bloody hell."

"…Isn't that…?" Lily began.

Sirius strutted into the Hall, looking as smug as his older cousins Bellatrix and Narcissa usually did. "Ladies?" he called, as the music became livelier. He disentangled himself and held out his hand. Once the song launched into full swing, they all started to dance. James had never seen such moves, least of all on his best friend. A fifth year Ravenclaw named Helga started to eye Sirius in a new light.

Remus laughed. "C'mon, Remy," Marge squawked. "Can't have Skinny showing us up!" With that, she grabbed Remus' hand and yanked him onto the dance floor.

"I can't believe this," James muttered. "He said he didn't want to go. He said he wasn't coming, that we shouldn't take dates. And look at him. He's got like, seven of them."

"Eight," Lily corrected as a Ravenclaw ditched her date to join Sirius' dance party.

"That sneaky little…"

"Oh, and James?" Lily said, glancing at her date. "Make it nine."

James' eyes widened. "What?"

"I'm sorry, but you're bald." Lily skipped over to join the fray as they all took hands and twirled about to a folk dance Sirius was teaching them. James' hand flew to his head and was beyond shocked when he realized that he was, indeed, bald.

"SIRIUS BLACK!" He charged onto the dance floor, past Marge who had Remus in the air, she was spinning him so violently. Sirius saw James coming, waltzed in a circle, using Stephanie as a human shield, then took off. "Sirius!" James yelled as he smacked into Stephanie, getting a full whiff of her breath and nearly turning green.

Sirius skidded onto his knees, sliding underneath one of the tables, hoping the tablecloth would conceal him. He pulled out his flask of firewhiskey, peeked around to make sure the coast was clear, then reached up an arm and spiked the punch. He hastily withdrew his hand as a pair of purple, high-heeled boots neared the table. Just in time, as well, for the boots belonged to none other than Headmaster Dumbledore. Sirius bit his lip and curled up as small as he could make himself while the boots paused in front of him.

Little did Sirius know, but the firewhiskey was lighter than the punch and floated on the surface with the lemon slices. Being very fond of lemons, Dumbledore ladled only the top layer of punch, unwittingly scooping nearly all of the firewhiskey into his glass. The headmaster strolled away, humming to himself as he sipped his drink.

Sirius scanned the dance floor, looking for any sign of James. When he saw none, he crawled over to another table then slipped out just in time to see Marge accidentally fling Remus to the floor. Sirius' cousin Narcissa was standing off to the side, looking aloof with her arm twined around none other than the Prefect Lucius Malfoy's. Sirius couldn't help but scowl at the two. And then he also spotted Bellatrix, doing something nasty in the corner with that oaf Rodolphus. He'd be able to blackmail her later.

The folk dance that Sirius had started was in full swing, and even Professor McGonagall was clapping in time to the music, looking pleased as she watched the students enjoy the dance. Sirius kept an eye out for James' head of messy black hair, only to smirk as he reminded himself that it was white and bald now. Just as he thought the coast was clear and that James had run off in embarrassment, a hand caught him by the scruff of the neck.

"There you are!"

Sirius tried to jump away but James tightened his grip.

"I can't believe you'd do this to me. Lily must think I'm a freak."

"Let's be honest, James. It's better she knows sooner rather than later."

"Sirius!" James whined, releasing his friend. "Give me my hair back."

Sirius' smile faded. He hadn't thought of that part.

James furrowed his brow at the shorter boy's expression. "You do know how to reverse it, don't you?"

"Well, not exactly. You look good bald, though. It really brings out your eyes. They're hard to see behind those glasses you are always wearing."

"I can't believe you!"

"You asked for it!"

"I never said I wanted to be bald!"

"You broke your promise!"

"Remus did, first!"

"Well, he –" Before Sirius could finish, he was cut off by an abnormally loud peal of Dumbledore's laughter. The students had all either slowed or stopped their dancing and were fanning out in a circle. An explosion of light erupted in the center of the ceiling.

"What the bloody hell?" James brushed past Sirius, the latter trailing behind him. When he couldn't see a thing and the students started clapping in time, Sirius climbed up on a table to look. There, in the middle of the circle, was a sight he never thought he'd see.

Professor Dumbledore was nancing about in what he clearly believed to be an amazing dance, but looked more like a surprisingly spry drunk old man trying to keep his balance. The students around him clapped along with the beat, and their rhythm was sporadically interrupted by Dumbledore firing his wand into the air. Sirius barked out in laughter. James climbed up onto the table beside him and adjusted his glasses at the sight. McGonagall was hissing at Dumbledore, trying to get him to stop.

"If I didn't know better, I'd think he was drunk," James giggled.

Sirius' smile slipped off his face. "Bloody hell. He _is_." James shot him a confused look. "I spiked the punch with firewhiskey!"

"You _what_?"

Just then, the song switched to the Muggle traditional "Hava Nagila" and Dumbledore began snatching up first years and chucking them to the tune.

"Headmaster!" McGonagall shrieked, but Dumbledore was now singing along and ignored her. The first year flew through the air and his fall was cushioned by the bodies of the other students.

By the time Dumbledore grabbed another first year, James shoved Sirius. "This is all your fault!"

Sirius scrambled down from the table, James at his heels, just in time to catch the second flying first year. Dumbledore flung another as he attempted the dance of the traditional Muggle Jewish song, and at that point, it was clear to everyone that he wasn't in his right mind. James mad a mad leap, his Seeker abilities shining as he caught the third first year. Dumbledore let off a blast of his wand, shattering one of the ceiling beams, raining dangerous splinters down on them all. Older students began to panic and push for the exit, though the first years were no match for Dumbledore who hunted them down and threw one, two, three at a time.

James and Sirius had their hands full, literally, and Lily joined them in catching the terrified eleven-year-olds. Amidst the chaos of their Headmaster belting out "Hava Nagila," chucking first years, and destroying the Great Hall, James caught a child then glanced at Lily. "I'm not usually bald, you know. It was Sirius' doing."

Lily jumped forward and caught a Hufflepuff. "I know."

"You do?"

"Yeah, I like your hair." They each set down their students just in time to catch two more. Sirius had been the only one paying attention during their chat to notice a chubby Ravenclaw flying through the air and wound up sprawled on the ground after breaking the boy's fall.

Professor McGonagall ordered the students to evacuate as quickly as they could as Dumbledore chucked a Slytherin and busted apart another beam with his wand and the ceiling groaned. Lily caught the Slytherin just as the last of the first years sprinted from the Great Hall, screaming and crying. "Out!" their Head of House cried. "Out! All of you! Evans! Black! Potter! Run for your lives!"

The three didn't need to be told twice and dashed out. They passed by a rubbish bin with a pair of feet sticking out of it and a little voice murmuring for help as they kicked. James pulled the body out and was surprised to find his friend. "Remus!"

"She dumped me," Remus said, brushing trash off of his shoulders as Lily and Sirius picked some out of his hair. "Literally. When I told her I didn't like her."

"To your dormitories!" Professor McGonagall screeched before they could talk further.

Once clean and in bed, and after Remus had managed to restore James' hair, the boys lay still, struggling to fall asleep amidst the noises of Dumbledore singing at the top of his lungs, still occasionally blowing things up downstairs, while Minerva and the other professors tried to calm him down. "Reckon they'll know it was my fault?" Sirius whispered.

"Nah," James said. "If I didn't see you do it, then no one did."

Sirius sighed. "Sorry about your hair, mate."

He could hear James shrug. "I was being a jerk. I deserved it. Besides, I'm glad you did it."

"You are?"

"Yeah. If you'd never done, I wouldn't know that Lily Evans likes my hair."

Sirius tried to roll his eyes but wound up smirking.

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	3. A Very Large Fly

**Managing Mischief**

**3. A Very **_**Large**_** Fly**

The following morning was a subdued affair. The professors had done their best to repair Dumbledore's damage to the Great Hall, but some of the beams still appeared shaky and the enchanted ceiling was a grumpy gray. Bland porridge was set out for the students and as Sirius, Remus, James and Peter all filed in and took their seats, they attempted to steal glances at Dumbledore.

The Headmaster looked somewhat worse for wear. He had dark circles under his eyes and was staring at the empty tabletop in front of him. Peter smirked and glanced at his three friends. They had filled him in on the events of the dance and he was now wishing he'd been there to witness Dumbledore's wild antics. The boys were seated on the far end of the Gryffindor table, closest to the teachers, with Sirius at the end of the bench, so when Peter parted his lips to ask a question, James shushed him lest they be overheard.

Dumbledore sighed, his stomach growling. Minerva had him fixed with a most disapproving stare. If only he could remember what he'd done to so displease her, and why his head was throbbing. One thing he did know, however, was that he had no breakfast and was increasingly hungry. When Hagrid sat down several seats past him with a salad bowl-sized serving of porridge, the headmaster grinned. Perfect. With a swish of his wand, Hagrid's giant bowl floated over to him. The half-giant scowled but when he opened his mouth to protest, Professor Flitwick rested a warning hand on his arm and shook his head. Hagrid sighed and stared forlornly after his porridge.

Most of the students were too afraid to even look at their Headmaster, especially the first years, otherwise the elderly man's actions would've drawn much laughter from the Hall. For their part, the Marauders were trying to keep a low profile. Sirius didn't want to get caught as the one who had spiked the punch, Remus was terrified Marge would spot him, and James was still embarrassed over the whole school having seen him bald. In fact, the entire room was quieter than they had ever heard it. Scuffing feet, clearing throats, and scraping spoons were all that were to be heard aside from intermittent whispered conversations. Dumbledore was starting in on his stolen porridge, eating with Hagrid's giant wooden spoon.

The peace was a pleasant contrast to the insanity of the previous night, and Remus, for one, rather liked it. He was just beginning to smile and carelessly swing his feet when he heard heavy footfalls behind him. James was seated across from him and his face paled a little as he watched something over the smaller boy's shoulder. Remus furrowed his brow, about to ask what it was, when the shuffling feet paused several yards down and a husky voice broke the silence. "Hey, Glasses and Skinny," Marge barked. "Bet you didn't see this coming!" With that, she slammed her massive foot down on the far end of the bench, tilting the entire thing. The students closest to her bounced and slid, but the full effect of what she'd done wasn't felt until the momentum of her blow reached the end of the bench, where Sirius was sitting.

There was just enough time for his eyes to widen before he was launched into the air, headed straight for the professors. A strangled cry escaped McGonagall as, for the twentieth time in the last ten hours, she was forced to helplessly watch a flying student. Dumbledore turned to look at the gasping woman at his side, and as such, completely missed the shooting Sirius star. Thankfully, Sirius landed with his head cushioned by Dumbledore's bowl of porridge. His face sank entirely down into the pale goo until only a small tuft of black hair stuck out above the surface, his body slumped against the table.

Dumbledore turned back to his breakfast at the noise and gasped at the tuft of hair. "Minerva, there is a fly in my porridge!" He immediately began to roll Hagrid's wooden spoon up in his copy of the _Daily Prophet_.

McGonagall was in the middle of shouting, "Albus, no, that's a _student_!"

"It's a very _large_, fly…" _Whack!_ Dumbledore hit the boy's head so hard that Hagrid's bowl shattered and the porridge and Sirius Black spilled out onto the floor below. McGonagall dropped her face into her hands and Dumbledore furrowed his brow, leaning forward to peer down at the mess below him. There Sirius lay, covered in porridge, out cold. "I daresay," the Headmaster wheezed. "Mr. Black has discovered the means of transfiguring into porridge. How marvelous!"

McGonagall merely pinched the brow of her nose and waved Madam Pomfrey forward when the healer bustled past.

When Sirius awoke in his bed in the hospital wing, he had a throbbing headache and a desire to never eat oatmeal again. James was sitting in a chair by his side, flipping through a copy of _Quidditch Quarterly_. He smirked when he saw his friend wince as he woke up. "Smarts, doesn't it?"

"What happened?" Sirius groaned.

"You don't remember?"

Sirius tried to shake his head then winced and took a shallow breath. "The last thing I remember is Large Marge slamming her foot down on the… thingy."

James sighed. "You were launched, mate. Sky high. Landed in Dumbledore's porridge. Apparently, he mistook you for a fly and swatted you." James rolled up his magazine and imitated the headmaster.

Sirius scrunched up his face. "No wonder my head sodding hurts." He paused to sigh. "So I take it he knows I was the one who spiked the punch, then?"

James leaned back in his chair. "He has no idea, mate."

Sirius furrowed his brow. "Then… he didn't hit me out of spite?"

James shrugged. "He's just an ass, I guess."

Sirius raised his brows, considering this. Whether his headmaster knew he'd caused his drunken episode or not, Sirius considered his debt paid. They were even now.

_**Please review!**_


	4. Dangerous Vegetables

**Managing Mischief**

**4. Dangerous Vegetables**

The rest of the weekend passed with relative quietness as the Marauders tried to keep a low profile to avoid Large Marge and her gang. Sirius kept having nightmares that he was a fly, Remus had taken to sprinting past all rubbish bins as if they would eat him, and James kept subconsciously running his fingers through his hair, as if to reassure himself that it really was there. The only one of them who seemed to suffer no ill effects was Peter, but then again, no one much noticed Peter, anyhow. He was always just sort of… there.

Monday changed everything, however. James got detention from McGonagall in his first class of the day for repeatedly hissing Lily's name in an attempt to get her to look at him and his hair. She steadfastly ignored both, however, their Head of House paid plenty of attention to his disruptive behavior. Sirius felt guilty over the whole situation, for if he hadn't jealously made James bald in the first place, none of this would've happened. Therefore, that night, as he dined with Remus and Peter, he decided to try to sneak some food to his poor friend in detention. Snatching up a few carrot-like vegetables, Sirius stuffed them in his pockets and strolled out of the Great Hall.

He knew from experience that when McGonagall was overseeing a detention, there was no way for him to sneak in to see his friend through the ordinary entrances. Therefore, he was forced to be extraordinary. When no one was looking, Sirius climbed up one of Hogwarts' ventilation shafts and started his way down to the Transfiguration classroom as quietly as he could. The air in the shaft was close and hot, and Sirius was beginning to sweat. If only he had James' invisibility cloak, he wouldn't have to be doing this. His stomach started to growl, so he pulled a carrot out of his pocket and began to munch as he crawled. Then another. And another.

Meanwhile, Professor McGonagall was busy grading essays while James wrote sentences that read: _I will not disrupt class. I will not disrupt class. I will not disrupt…_ There was a disruption. Both James and his professor looked at each other when they heard the echoing bang. McGonagall narrowed her eyes, as if suspicious that he had something to do with the noise, until it was followed by a deep rumble echoing from above. James pulled out his wand as McGonagall rose to her feet and stepped out from behind her desk. "Put that thing away, Potter."

"Professor, what was –"

There was another clang and a thump, as if some great beast was approaching overhead. "I'll sort this out," McGonagall said, striding out of the room. "Finish your sentences, Potter."

James stiffened as the door closed behind her, his hold on his wand tightening. What was making those awful noises? Could it be a troll? Were the centaurs attacking the castle?

A clanking sounded overhead and James jumped. Something was moving on the ceiling. Holding his wand out in front of him, James crept towards the patch of moving ceiling, realizing that it was the grate to the ventilation system. Two feet dangled out of it and James furrowed his brow. A moment later, Sirius had dropped into the classroom. He greeted James with a grin on his filthy face. James blinked in surprise. "Sirius?"

"I brought you dinner," Sirius said, holding out a grubby hand and unfurling his fingers. Nestled in his sweaty, dirty palm was a shriveled, unappetizing root of some sort.

"That's all?"

"Well, I sort of… ate the others."

James adjusted his glasses on his nose and looked somewhat repulsed at the grimy, shriveled thing.

"Fine, then," Sirius said. "I'll eat it."

"I can't believe it was you making all that noise."

"What noise?"

"Professor McGonagall stepped out just now to investigate. We could hear you coming down the duct."

Sirius sat down on a desk and began to swing his feet, nibbling off the tip of the root.

"You should go," James said. "If she catches you in here, we'll _both_ be in trouble."

"You can escape with me, if you like," Sirius offered, shaking some of his black hair out of his grey eyes.

James smirked and shook his head. Count on Sirius to turn detention into a game. Just then, they heard the clicking heels of Professor McGonagall returning "That's her!" James hissed, shoving Sirius towards the vent. "Go!"

Sirius climbed onto the desk and hopped up and down, trying to reach the vent to no avail. "Gimme a boost!"

James made his foot into a stirrup and Sirius had just set his foot in it when McGonagall opened the door. Both boys froze, their faces mirroring the same guilty expression, before Sirius made a reckless scramble for the vent. "Mr. Black!" Sirius' fingers latched onto the lip of the opening but before he could haul himself up, his Head of House wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled. "This is most unsafe!" Sirius screamed as he was yanked by a teacher. James had never seen something so horrifying in his life. Sirius was clinging to the vent like a madman. "Mr. Black, let go!"

Sirius' sweaty fingers lost their grip on the vent and McGonagall yanked him down and set his feet on the ground. Sirius yanked out of her grasp and fixed her with a look he no doubt thought was fierce, yet looked so much like an angry puppy that the professor had to try hard not to laugh.

"What on earth were doing in the vents?" she demanded.

"I just wanted to bring my friend dinner, is all," Sirius snapped, revealing the sweaty root in his hand. "This is injustice!"

"Look at the state of you – you're filthy!"

"I'd go through a lot worse to ease his suffering," Sirius said, puffing out his chest imperially while pointing to James.

"Except that you already ate everything you meant for me," James added, unable to repress a giggle.

Sirius narrowed his eyes at his friend.

McGonagall sighed. "If you promise to clean yourself up right away, Mr. Black, I will pretend this never happened. Your intentions were noble, but if I ever catch either of you in the vents again, you will have lost twenty points from Gryffindor and an earned yourself a week's worth of detention. Come along, now." McGonagall took Sirius' arm and began marching him towards the door.

"This is tyranny," Sirius barked, albeit half-heartedly. "You're a dictator!"

"Yes, Mr. Black. And it's about time you learned that. My classroom, my rules."

They were almost at the door when Sirius bit off most of the root and began to chew. It was then that his senses exploded in fire and he felt as if he couldn't breathe. Planting his heels into the cobblestone, he forced McGonagall to stop.

When the professor glanced back at her headstrong student, she was surprised to find the look of horror on his face. "Mr. Black?"

Sirius' eyes were tearing up and he let out a few choking sounds before letting out an even louder scream than he had when McGonagall had first caught him grabbing onto the vent.

"Mr. Black!"

"Sirius!" shouted James.

Sirius screamed again and stuck out his tongue and used his grimy hands to hit the chewed up root out of his mouth.

McGonagall watched the reddish mash fall to the floor and realization struck her. "Merlin's beard!" She snatched up his wrist and pried open his dirty hand, snatching what remained of the root. "Where did you get this?"

Sirius merely shook his head, still screaming, his tongue hanging out like a dog.

"I don't know where he got it, Professor," James shouted above his friend's shrieking. "It may have been in his pockets for weeks. What if it's poisonous?"

Sirius stopped shrieking long enough to look at James, then he launched into an even more hysterical fit. McGonagall glanced at the nefarious root in her hand. "I think Mr. Potter is correct, hurry, to the Hospital Wing!" McGonagall yanked Sirius out of the classroom and hurried down the hallway as quickly as she could with a shrieking student in tow.

Sirius didn't dare pull his tongue back in his mouth lest he swallow some of the poisonous root. The burning in his throat was getting worse and his eyes were stinging with tears. The castle flew by in a watery blur as he did his best to keep up with his professor's quick step. When he wasn't moving fast enough, McGonagall hoisted Sirius over her shoulder and ran. She knew the boy wouldn't appreciate such indignity but he'd be better off indignant than dead. The students she passed in the halls were terrified, and a rumor that Professor McGonagall tortured her misbehaving students flew about the school.

"Poppy!" McGonagall shouted as she breathlessly entered the Hospital Wing. "I've a dying student here! Hurry!"

Madam Pomfrey bustled into the room, pulling her wand out of her apron pocket. "Set him on the table there!"

McGonagall slung Sirius off her shoulder and planted him on the exam table. Sirius' grimy face was streaked with tears and his chin was covered in drool since he still hadn't dared pull his tongue back into his mouth. "Merlin!" McGonagall shouted. "He's gone blue!"

McGonagall didn't know how it was possible, but Sirius shrieked all the louder at that. She shoved the root into Pomfrey's hand, and the woman hastily performed an identification spell then slowly looked to McGonagall.

"Well don't just stand there!" the professor shouted over her student's shrieking. "He's been poisoned! Help him!"

"Minerva McGonagall," Pomfrey shouted, her brows furrowed as her hands flew to her hips. "Did you give this to him?"

"Heavens, no! Do something!"

"This is what happens when you get a T in Herbology!"

"Poppy! This is hardly the time or place! The poor boy is suffering!"

Sirius' voice was cracking from all his shrieking yet he kept it up anyway. If he was going to die, he wasn't going to go without a fight. Even if all he could muster at the moment was screaming like a child in a tantrum.

"This isn't poisonous!" Pomfrey shouted, looking between the two hysterical Gryffindors. "It's just a spicy radish!"

Sirius' shrieking immediately stopped and he stared at Pomfrey as she held up all that was left of the root. McGonagall took the vegetable with a shaky hand. "But… but… he was in such pain…"

Pomfrey huffed. "Yes, well, that's what happens when you only raise children on English fair. Their tastebuds grow weak." She turned to Sirius, who appeared too shocked to react other than to finally tuck his tongue away. "You'll be fine, Mr. Black. Just have a drink of water." With a flick of her wand, she conjured up a glass and set it on the table beside him. "Honestly…" Pomfrey bustled back towards her office.

McGonagall was still staring at the root in her hand in shock when Sirius slowly came to life enough to wipe the drool off his chin. The professor blinked several times then looked to her student, her ears still ringing from all of his shrieking. The silence that had fallen in its wake, and the incredible calm of realizing that her student wasn't at death's door after all, left the Transfiguration teacher temporarily speechless.

Sirius, however, wasn't. His voice was hoarse and squeaky when he asked, "You got a T in Herbology?"

McGonagall's cheeks flushed as she hastily stuffed the remainder of the radish into her pocket. "That was a lot time ago."

"Still, you got a _T_? The Head of Gryffindor got a _T_?" he asked, a giggle creeping into his voice.

McGonagall would've snapped back if not for the fact that she was so relieved to hear him sounding no worse for wear when she had been terrified for his life mere moments ago. Besides, had she been able to identify the radish in the first place, she would have averted both of their hysterical episodes, so she couldn't much blame him for laughing. She merely adjusted her spectacles and cleared her throat. "As I said, Mr. Black, that was a long time ago. Now drink your water."

Sirius did as he was told and downed the whole glass. Now that he was no longer screaming, she couldn't help but pity his urchin-like appearance. He was still covered head to toe in sooty grime and tear streaks blazed pale trails down his cheeks. He slid off the bed and sniffled, wiping his nose with his sleeve, which left another dirty streak on his face.

"To my office, please, Mr. Black."

As he fell into step behind her, Sirius' shoulders slumped. Apparently even his near-death experience hadn't made McGonagall forget about his sneaking into her classroom. Once in her office, McGonagall closed the door and offered him a seat and a shortbread biscuit. He took both and began to swing his feet. McGonagall decided that he looked quite content and that she needn't worry about any permanent psychological damage she may have caused him. Say what she would about the boy's troublesome, melodramatic nature and her dislike of his family, but Sirius had a streak of resilience that was so strong, she had never seen its equal. Thinking about his parents, she realized he had to be resilient to have been raised in such an environment yet turned out so utterly… normal.

"I would appreciate it," she said, easing into her seat and folding her hands on her desk, "if you did not mention what you learned today."

Sirius dusted off his hands and spoke around a mouthful of his finished biscuit "About the radish?" he asked with a glint in his one visible eye that told her he knew exactly what she meant.

"No, Black."

"Oh. That you're a lot stronger than you look, then?"

McGonagall merely arched a brow and held out the tin again. "Biscuit?"

Sirius had never been offered two before and knew that his professor must feel really guilty to be fattening him up, but he wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth and helped himself. He slipped an extra biscuit up his sleeve to give to James later. McGonagall pretended not to notice but realized a small smile escaped at the boy's loyalty.

"Mr. Black?"

"Don't worry, Professor. I'm sure I'll get a T someday, too."

"Not while you're in my House, you won't."

Sirius smirked. "I won't tell anyone."

By "I won't tell anyone" she knew he meant "anyone other than James, Remus and Peter," but that was good enough for her. "Thank you, Mr. Black. And I apologize for not having recognized the radish sooner."

"It's not your fault, Professor."

McGonagall sighed. Yes, it was, actually, but if the boy had already forgiven her, then it was time she picked up on some of his resilience and likewise put the mistake behind her. "Thank you for your understanding, Sirius. Now run along and wash up. I don't want to see an ounce of dirt on you tomorrow."

Sirius hopped to his feet. "Yes, Professor."

"You're excused." She flicked open the door with her wand and Sirius slipped out, quietly closing it behind him.

That night, when she was settling under her covers, she found herself thinking of those four Gryffindor boys and how admirable their bond of friendship was. She was emotionally exhausted after having thought one of her best students was about to die right under her nose. But now that some time had passed and the threat no longer felt real, she could look at the situation as a whole. Her T in Herbology was a blemish she thought she had hid long ago, but instead it had come back to haunt her. In the form of a spicy radish.

That Sirius Black was something else to have risked life and limb for James Potter… _James Potter_. She bolted upright in bed. "Merlin!" In the madness of the evening, she had forgotten the boy in detention. She found him asleep on his desk and shooed him off to bed, realizing that she would have to stay more on top of things when the boys were around. She had three more long years to go, after all.

**_Hello readers! _**

_****_I know you're out there from my story stats. If you don't mind, please take a moment or two to leave me a note. Half the fun of writing fanfiction is connecting with my readers, and right now, my review box is pretty empty :(_**  
><strong>_


	5. To Catch a Falling Leaf

**Managing Mischief**

**5. To Catch a Falling Leaf**

Tuesday came and went, and Wednesday afternoon was a blustery one. The air was full of the energy of a coming storm, and as Remus peered out the dormitory window, he saw grey clouds on the horizon and the vibrant orange and red autumn leaves being tossed about by the wind. The amber of the sun reflected the color of his eyes and he was filled with a longing to be out in the wind, smelling the leaves in the crisp air. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, let's go!" he shouted, hopping up and down and clapping as the other three boys donned their scarves and coats.

"I'm going as fast as I can," Peter griped, which wasn't very fast.

"I wanna have time to play before it starts raining," Remus said as he hurried towards the door.

"So do I," James added. He wasn't a fan of trying to see through the water speckles on his glasses. He clapped his hands together and rubbed them. He paused when Sirius passed him, heading for Remus. Sirius had bundled his red and gold scarf around his neck and face so many times that between the scarf and his mop of hair, the only visible portion of his face was a solitary grey eye peeking out of a black curtain. Combined with his puffy black coat, he looked remarkably top heavy.

Sirius noticed James staring and said something that sounded like "what?" but James couldn't be sure since it was so muffled.

Remus had on his Gryffindor beanie and scarf, but given his Lycanthropic condition, he wasn't quite as susceptible to the cold as the other three were. And given Sirius' exaggerated outfit, he still hadn't recovered from the previous winter when his cousin Bellatrix had tricked him into walking on thin ice, only to cackle as he fell through. He'd had a phobia of catching the slightest chill ever since. James had thought about putting on his beanie, but then he remembered that Lily had said that she liked his hair, so he wanted to give it every opportunity to be noticed. In fact, since he had a moment while they were waiting for Peter, he took the opportunity to fluff it up a little…

"'Kay, ready!" Peter announced, waddling over to Remus. Peter was already a round boy, so seeing him in his puffy coat maximized his girth in ways that he himself never expected. As such, he almost bowled Remus over on accident as he moved to stand beside him.

"Right then," Remus said. "Let's go." He opened the door and they all marched out. Sirius said something that no one could make out so Remus decided to just smile and nod.

They marched down the long stairs towards the castle exit. Just as they were about to pass the Great Hall, Sirius squeaked out something indiscernible then dashed off to the side. The other three boys paused and exchanged confused glances as Sirius spied into the Hall. He turned back to them with a thumbs up and Remus realized his friend had had the forethought to check the whereabouts of their enemies before heading out into the wilderness.

The four exited the castle and made for the woods. Knowing better than to enter the Forbidden Forest, they made a beeline for one of the smaller patches of woods that dotted the mountains around Hogwarts. Once on the forest path, Remus chased after the first falling leaf that he saw. The leaf fluttered on a breeze then gusted out of reach. The boys continued down the path in silence, watching Remus jumping about, trying to catch leaves. "Why're you doing that?" Peter asked.

"If you catch a falling leaf," Remus said between jumps, "then you'll have good luck for a year."

Sirius darted out from the back of the group and immediately set to trying to catch a leaf, as well, looking more like a pile of laundry than a boy. After the drama of the Autumn Annual and his near-death experience, he was hungry for some luck. James watched his two shorter friends chasing after leaves for a few moments before joining in himself. Peter merely smirked and shook his head. He'd join in but that meant too much moving, and he was a sedentary person by nature.

Remus grinned as he saw his two friends join him. The little breeze that had scattered about some tantalizing leaves had died out and Remus' shoulders slumped. The odds of catching a falling leaf were always better when there was a whole mess of them in the sky. Sirius had come to the same conclusion and now doubled back a few paces and threw up his arms at the horizon, shouting something no one could make out but everyone knew: he was calling for the wind.

As if in answer, a huge gust swept through the trees and the boys scattered about, each pair of eyes (or eye, in Sirius' case), latched onto a target, tracking their leaf. Sirius and Remus were so focused skyward that they smacked into each other, and James was so busy laughing at the pair of them on the ground, and at Sirius' muffled insults, that he lost track of his leaf.

"Ha HA!" Peter let out a loud laugh behind them and the other three turned to find the round boy holding up a beautiful leaf with a smile.

Sirius made several muffled noises that sounded enough like "how'd you get that?" that Peter responded.

Peter shrugged. "I just stood here and it drifted to me."

"Let's all try that," Remus suggested, and the three stilled where they were, gazing upwards.

The breeze had died out again and as he waited, James couldn't help but wonder what a spot of luck would bring him. Maybe it would help Lily notice him in Transfiguration. Maybe it would make his hair even more irresistible. Maybe it would even make Lily like him… The thought coursed through his veins with such urgency that he snapped out of his calm. The other two boys were standing still, their arms outstretched like statues, hoping for a leaf. James couldn't just sit there and wait. Not if Lily was on the line.

A leaf fluttered towards Sirius and the boy did his best to hold still, bouncing on his tippy toes, trying to reach it, when James darted out of nowhere and bowled him over, making a mad leap at the leaf. He missed and didn't even look twice at Sirius on the ground before he jumped at another near Remus, shoving the smaller boy out of the way. "Hey!" Remus called, glaring at James as the taller boy caught the golden leaf that had been headed towards him.

"I've got one!" James shouted, incredulity coloring his face as he held it up for all to see. "I bloody got one!"

Just then, the ball of cloth that was Sirius tackled James to the ground with a growl that was probably a sentence. James dropped his leaf as he landed and tried to wrestle Sirius off of him, which was more difficult than normal since the boy was so bound up in puffy clothing that it was hard to find his body under it all.

Sirius grabbed a handful of fallen leaves and smashed them into James's face with another growl. "No, don't! My glasses!"

"Sirius!" Remus managed to yank the other boy off of James, who scrambled to his feet, looking about for the leaf he had dropped. Sirius was airing a long list of offenses against James, but since none of them could understand what he was saying, Remus once again nodded and patted his back before picking fallen leaves off of him.

"Bloody hell, Sirius. Now I can't find my leaf," James whined.

"It was mine anyway," Remus said, casting the tallest of the boys a rare sneer.

James sighed and crossed over to the shorter two and began to brush leaves off of Sirius as a means of a truce, only to have Sirius bat his hands away before taking off down the path, looking like a black marshmallow on legs.

"Looks like I'm the only one with a leaf," Peter said, grinning as he twirled the stem about in his fingers. James and Remus barely spared him a look before heading off after Sirius.

They caught up with him several yards down the path and found Sirius in a tree, precariously scooting down a large branch. How the puffington ever managed to climb the tree in the first place was a mystery that would never be answered. "What're you doing?" James asked.

At first he thought Sirius was ignoring him and not answering, then realized that the boy was just all that much harder to understand from several feet above the ground. "Oh, right," James said in response, hoping that was appropriate.

Sirius quieted as he focused on scooting further and further down the branch. Remus squinted up at him in the overcast light. Sirius was making his way towards a clutch of autumn leaves on the end of the branch. "Sirius, that's cheating, that's not how it works!" Remus yelled.

Sirius ignored Remus and kept on scooting. "Watch out!" James called as Sirius shifted his position to lean backwards, bringing his legs up to kick at the leaves. Several fell at once and from Sirius' desperate squeal, the other boys realized that they were meant to catch them. Remus and James immediately sprang into action, and the taller boy cried out triumphantly as he caught not one or two but three leaves. Remus had his own handful by the time Peter trundled over and lazily snatched at a few.

Sirius stopped kicking and peered down at his friends, smiling beneath miles of scarf. Remus and James were dashing about, catching as many leaves as they could, and Sirius hoped he'd just brought them years and years worth of luck. Even though James didn't deserve it after bowling him over like that. He leaned from one side to the other, trying to get a better view of the three below when he suddenly lost his balance and lurched to the side. He had just enough time to fling out an arm to catch himself and for a moment, dangled from the branch by one arm. James and Remus noticed just in time to shout out Sirius' name before he dropped. Peter, for his part, wondered what had happened so fast when Sirius dropped on him out of nowhere.

The round boy let out a loud "Ooof!" as the two of them hit the ground, nearly buried in fallen leaves. Sirius sat up and shook his head before barking out a laugh and crawling off of Peter, who remained dazed on the forest floor.

"Peter, are you alright?" James asked as he peered down at his friend.

Peter blinked several times then furrowed his brow. "How could you bloody drop on me like that?" he asked, sitting up to look for Sirius. Sirius murmured a long explanation, full of hand gestures, but he might as well have been speaking Goblin to Peter. James and Remus helped their friend up and dusted him off before continuing down the trail that they knew curved past a small pond. The pond was one of their favorite places to spend time, for there was no end to the supply of rocks that could be tossed in to cause ripples.

When the four reached the pond, however, they were shocked to discover that it was already occupied by none other than Large Marge and her crew. The three girls had been poking at the water with sticks, chattering away, but quieted when they heard the boys approach and turned to look at them. The four boys paused where they stood, forming a line.

Large Marge narrowed her eyes. Lily crossed her arms over her chest. And the Hufflepuff with the purple ribbon in her hair stepped up to form a line with Large Marge and Lily. Though there were only three of the girls and four of the boys, neither Remus nor Sirius liked the odds, for any one of the girls was taller than them. Peter had long ago learned that the best way to win a fight was to stay out of it entirely, so he didn't much care about the pond being occupied, knowing that his group would soon take care of it. James shifted his weight and offered Lily an awkward smile. The only response from the girls was Large Marge pounding her fist into her palm.

That was all it took to send Sirius and Remus sprinting for their lives. Like a bull, Large Marge was trigged by the movement and tore off after the two with a growl. Lily and the Hufflepuff ran after her and Peter took off for a hiding spot. James was the only one to stand his ground. The only one until Lily withdrew her wand and pointed it at him. Then he ran like all the others. For a long while, all that could be heard were screams and shouts and blasts from wands. Then the cries died away and the birdsong slowly crept back into the air. The pond's still waters reflected the golden of the trees that surrounded it.

Huffing and puffing could be heard as Sirius rounded the corner, heading back to the pond, peering through his shaggy black hair for any of his friends. He had finally pulled his scarf down off of his face so that he could breathe as he ran. He glanced wildly about, tempted to call out James' name but not willing to risk discovery. Heading closer to the pond, he scanned the ground for tracks, hoping for a sign of which direction his friend had vanished in.

A twig snapped behind him and Sirius whipped his head around, a grin on his face, anticipating James' tall, thin form. The smile faded when instead, he was met with none other than Large Marge. Sirius took several scrambled steps backwards as Marge grinned, pounding her palm with her fist again. "Well, well, well," she gurgled in her impossibly hoarse voice. "Look who's all alone."

Sirius was still scrambling backwards when his foot slipped in the mud and he landed on the seat of his pants.

Large Marge smirked, her Ronnie enhancing the expression. "Not so tough when you're not with Glasses, are ya, Skinny?"

Sirius swallowed hard and took a deep breath. He only had time to bellow out "James!" before Large Marge was upon him.

**_Thank you so much to all who have left me reviews! Please keep them coming! :)_**


	6. The Battle

**Managing Mischief**

**6. The Battle**

James had been sprinting through the woods, leaping over fallen logs and ducking under branches, as agile as a deer, when he heard Sirius scream his name. Panting for breath, he turned around and doubled back, not caring if he ran into Lily or the Hufflepuff along the way. There was desperation and fear in that cry. It could only mean one thing: Large Marge.

Someone crashed through the brush to James' left as he neared the pond. As he raised his wand as he recognized the girl as Lily. One look at her face, however, and he realized that she was returning for the same purpose. Large Marge, when left alone, could be deadly to any boy as small as Sirius was to her.

The two burst into the clearing around the pond to find a peculiarly calm scene. Large Marge was sitting still, looking quite pleased with herself, her arms folded over her chest, looking at them expectantly. "Lily? Hex him!" Marge bellowed and Lily hesitantly pointed her wand at James, making him freeze.

"Marge?" he asked. "Where is Sirius?"

Marge furrowed her unibrow. "Who?"

"Sirius," James repeated. "Sirius Black. Where is he?"

Marge shook her head. "Can't say that I know who you're talking about, Glasses."

James swallowed hard. "Skinny. Where's Skinny?"

"Ooooh," Marge drawled. "Why didn't you say so? He's right here." Large Marge rose, revealing that she had, in fact, for the entire conversation, been sitting on top of Sirius.

"Sirius!" Lily didn't try to stop James as he dashed towards his friend who was unmoving, face down in the mud. "Sirius!" James pried his friend out of the goop and rolled him over. Sirius let out a groan but didn't move. "You've killed him!" James shouted, glaring at Marge without letting go of his friend.

Marge shifted uncomfortably in the most human emotion James had ever seen from her, and Lily's green eyes grew large. "He's not breathing?"

James shook his friend again. "Sirius? Sirius, can you hear me?"

Lily rushed over to James, and for once, Sirius' shaggy hair was swept off his face, replaced by a thin layer of mud. His grey eyes opened, mere slits amid the brown, as he wheezed up at the two. "Laaarge…. Maaarge…" he hissed.

James nodded. "I know, it's all right. You're safe now." James wiped some of the mud off of his friend's face. "How do you feel? Can you walk?"

Sirius hesitated then nodded, to Lily's great relief, and she helped James hoist the other Gryffindor to his feet. Sirius groaned and winced, leaning heavily on James as he took his first few steps. Marge scoffed. "See? Skinny was faking it the whole time. You were never hurt at all, were ya, Skinny?" Large Marge punctuated her last question with what she thought was a playful punch that sent Sirius sprawling onto the ground and unable to get up.

"Marge, enough!" Lily cried.

"I didn't do nothing," Marge grumbled before waddling off. "I'm gonna go find… that other girl."

"Good," Lily said then once again tried to help Sirius to his feet. She half hoped that Sirius was being his usual melodramatic self and was putting on an act to drive off Large Marge, but when the boy didn't make any effort to move, even after Marge had left, Lily grew worried. "Sirius?"

"Can't…" Sirius groaned from where James was trying to keep him on his feet. "Just leave me to die…" He tried to shove away from James and tumbled onto the ground.

"Sirius, we're not leaving you," James said firmly.

Just then, Remus and the Hufflepuff girl came strolling around the corner, chatting gaily about comics when they spotted the other two huddled around Sirius. "What's wrong?" Remus asked as they neared. James looked actually worried and both Sirius and Lily had tears in their eyes.

"Remus," Sirius whispered. "Is that you?" He reached out a feeble hand. Remus dashed over and snatched it up in his own. "I want you… to have… my dinosaur collection…"

Remus nodded. "Okay. Thanks."

"What?" Sirius furrowed his brow and propped himself up on his elbows. "You're supposed to convince me to stay alive, you git."

"Oh." Remus wrung his hands for a moment then flung himself over Sirius' chest, wailing dramatically. "_Please_, Sirius! _Please_ don't die!"

"All right, all right, I won't," Sirius said then coughed and winced, lying back down.

Lily looked to James. "We need to get him to the hospital wing. He's getting pale." Now that she knew Sirius wasn't going to die, her tears had cleared up and she appeared remarkably level-headed. James was biting his nails and nodded in agreement.

Neither of them had learned how to levitate a human yet, and when James tried _wangardium leviosa_, Sirius screamed so loud they thought some of the centaurs might turn up to see what all the fuss was about. Instead, seeing as he and Lily were the biggest ones there, each grabbed ahold of an end of Sirius and started walking back towards the castle. The Hufflepuff girl ran ahead to warn Madam Pomfrey that she was about to have a patient. The fact that Sirius hadn't launched into his usual elaborate description of his dinosaur collection as soon as he had mentioned it worried James a bit.

Sirius groaned and whined at just about any movement, and James was having such a hard time keeping ahold of his feet that he was getting irritated from all the fuss. "Just keep quiet, Sirius."

Sirius glared at him. "Keep quiet?" he tried to say with indignity but instead came out in a wheezing gasp. "You keep –" Just then, an orange and red-tipped leaf was caught in the mud on Sirius' cheek. He'd caught his leaf! Maybe his luck was finally about to change! Or maybe… it wasn't quite yet. Sirius went cross-eyed then suddenly limp. Remus screamed and placed a hand on either side of his own cheeks.

"Sirius?" James shouted.

"Just keep moving!" Lily snapped, quickening her pace. They were now on the patch of open lawn that stretched between the castle and the surrounding woods and mountains. Once they were within twenty yards of the castle, Madam Pomfrey bustled out with the Hufflepuff girl and a stretcher.

The healer levitated Sirius' unconscious form onto the stretcher. "As if Monday wasn't enough already…" Pomfrey muttered under her breath as she marched back into the castle, stretcher in tow.

James and the others hurried in after her. "Madam Pomfrey, is he going to be all right?" Remus asked.

"I'm sure of it."

Professor McGonagall bustled over, having been alerted that one of her students was injured. She squawked when she made out Sirius' features as he passed her on the stretcher. At least, she thought it was Sirius. The last time she'd had a good look at his face without hair in it was when he was eleven and still sported the short, slicked hair his mother had done on him before his sorting. "Mr. Black! _Again_?"

"It's for real this time, Professor," James said as he watched Pomfrey disappear down the hall with his friend.

"Whatever has happened now?" she asked, looking at the four guilty faces before her.

"It was Large Marge, Professor," Remus said, sounding heart-broken. "She sat on him."

"_Sat on him_?" McGonagall's eyes were wide behind her spectacles.

"By the pond," Remus continued, turning his Gryffindor beanie over in his hands fretfully. "We're at war, you see."

"So I have gathered." She glanced at Lily and the quiet Hufflepuff. "For Black's sake, I am glad to see you have reached a temporary truce."

"Please, Professor," Lily spoke up. "It's not Margaret's fault. She just doesn't know her own size or… weight." The Hufflepuff nodded.

Remus and even James shot Lily a betrayed look.

"Be that as it may," the professor continued, "it does not change the fact that Mr. Black is having a very bad week."

James and Remus nodded solemnly, staring at their feet.

"Well, what are you waiting for, then?" McGonagall said, shooing them. "Go on to the Hospital Wing. He'll want to see you when he wakes up, I'm sure."

James and Remus didn't need to be told twice and sprinted down the hall.

When Professor McGonagall checked in with Madam Pomfrey an hour later, she found that Sirius was awake and that Remus was sitting on the foot of Sirius' bed while James reenacted the battle for them both. The two smaller boys tried to laugh as James did a spot-on imitation of Large Marge, but Sirius winced and held a hand to his bandaged chest. A bottle of Skele-Grow was on the end table beside his bed.

McGonagall ducked into Pomfrey's office. "Well, he's not dead, for a second time, thank goodness," she said to announce her arrival.

Pomfrey had been studying an image and glanced at McGonagall over her shoulder, looking as if she'd been laughing.

"What is it?" McGonagall asked, stepping up beside the healer and examining something that looked rather like a Muggle x-ray.

"Those are Sirius Black's ribs," Pomfrey replied. "Those dark bands are where the bones were fractured."

McGonagall frowned. "Poppy, they've all been broken!"

Pomfrey nodded. "Every one of them. In fact, had he not been in such padded clothing, they might have snapped altogether and stabbed vital organs." She chuckled.

McGonagall narrowed her eyes. "I see nothing funny about this. The poor boy must've been in terrible pain."

Pomfrey waved a dismissive hand. "They're all on the mend now. He'll be fit for Quidditch by Saturday, don't worry."

"I still fail to find amusement in any of –"

"Look." Pomfrey used the tip of her wand to trace the outline of the pattern of the breaks.

The professor held a hand over her mouth. "Why Poppy, it's a… a…"

"A buttox, Professor. And a rather large one at that." She had to pause as her giggles began again, and even professor McGonagall snorted. "Let's flip a galleon to decide which of us will be the one to tell him that he'll permanently have the imprint of Marge's butt in his bones." McGonagall snorted again.

Sirius was blissfully oblivious of the pattern imprinted on his healing ribs, and was just happy to be alive for the second time in three days. He held up his mud speckled leaf and twirled it in his fingertips, catching the light, examining the veins. Remus smiled and both he and James pulled their leaves out of their breast pockets and held them up in a toast to a successful adventure.

Meanwhile, night was fast falling outside as the rain began, and Peter had finally decided to come out of his hiding place. He looked about in confusion as he reached the pond. "James? Sirius? Remus?"

_**Thank you all for your lovely reviews! Please keep them coming! :D They make me write faster. ;)**_


	7. The Glider

**Managing Mischief**

**7. The Glider  
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As if the week couldn't get any worse for Sirius Black, he had to go to the dentist on Friday. A Muggle dentist. The boy was never certain if his mother insisted he go to the same kiddie dentist year after year because having cavities drilled out the Muggle way was more torturous, or because of the incident that happened with the Black family dentist when he was little.

He was around nine or ten and had only just begun to notice his magical abilities, much less control them. When the Wizarding dentist had come near him with a device that looked halfway between an eyelash curler and a hole-puncher, Sirius had panicked. Before he knew it, instruments were flying off shelves and the dentist was turned into a parrot after a bottle of potion shattered on his head. Why he had a parrot potion in his office, Sirius didn't know, but even as a macaw he had chased Sirius and his mother out of the office, screaming that they were never to return again.

Sirius wasn't sure what was worse, Muggle or Wizarding dentists. In his mind, they were both horrible sadists. He was so nervous about his 11am appointment that he hardly ate his oatmeal at breakfast. "Might be the last meal I ever eat," he mumbled.

"Think about it this way," Peter offered, resting a hand on his friend's back. "You get to miss History of Magic. You get to escape Professor Binns' droning on and on and on."

Sirius thought he'd prefer being in Professor Binn's boring class any day compared to being swung about in a chair with all the blood rushing into his head and a masked man with a headlamp peering down at him, asking him to move his tongue this way and that when all he wanted to do was bite their gloved fingers. Especially when the hygienist said the word "occlusal" and rattled off code talk, like "let's put a watch on number twelve," as if they were spies for the Ministry.

James and Remus knew better than to try to comfort their friend. Their words would be hollow for they, too, feared the dentist almost more than they feared Large Marge. Well, not quite, but any one of them would rather be chased by the Hufflepuff girl than go to the dentist. Any one of them except for Peter, who would've preferred the dentist. He had always been fond of toothpaste and often ate some when the hygienist wasn't looking. And besides, running from the Hufflepuff would've required too much movement.

Transfiguration came and went, and as Sirius slung his messenger bag over his shoulder and began to shuffle out with the rest of the students, Professor McGonagall called his name. "Mr. Black?"

He turned to face what he could see of her through his hair.

"Your mother has asked that I remind you of your appointment this morning."

"Thank you, Professor. I haven't forgotten." Sirius adjusted his bag, feeling nauseous. It was already ten-thirty. He wished he could freeze time.

"You are to meet Rubeus Hagrid outside the Great Hall. He will take you to and from your appointment. You are to head straight to class once you have returned."

Sirius nodded.

McGonagall narrowed her eyes at the boy's pallor. He looked quite pale, and if she wasn't mistaken, rather green. "Mr. Black, you have survived being knocked unconscious by the Headmaster, a spicy radish, and a near-death experience beneath Margaret Cullen's backside, which is no small feat. I hardly doubt that a visit to a Muggle dentist will bring about your end."

Sirius took a deep breath and nodded, soaking in his professor's words and doing his best to believe them.

"Now run along."

"Yes, Professor." Sirius hurried out of the classroom but immediately slowed his pace once he was in the hallway full of students. He wanted to savor his last few minutes before the bells tolled eleven. All too soon, he was rounding the corner to the Great Hall. Hagrid spotted him and grinned, waving a dinner plate sized hand. Sirius forced a smile and lifted a hand in a return wave. He was glad that Hagrid was going with him, for he liked Hagrid the best out of all the adults at school. Hagrid would never convince him he'd been poisoned by a radish or get drunk and start chucking first years. Hagrid was trustworthy and fun to be around.

"There yeh are!" the partial Giant bellowed before slapping Sirius on the back so hard that the boy fell to his knees. "Oops, watch yer footin'. Clumsy one, aren't yeh?" Sirius winced as he climbed to his feet and Hagrid held out his pink umbrella, waggling his eyebrows. "Professor McGonagall had it turned into a portkey for me. Jus' fer today, o'course. Take us straight there an' back."

Sirius swallowed past the stickiness coating his throat. "Can't we just go somewhere else and pretend we went to the dentist?"

Hagrid chuckled. "'Course not, lad. 'Course not. Now come along." Hagrid gave Sirius another pat on the back as he started walking, but Sirius was ready for it this time and caught himself before falling over.

He followed Hagrid as one condemned, and hardly noticed when they exited the castle and made their way across the school grounds. It wasn't until he was suitably chilled by the autumn air that he noticed his whereabouts and tried to focus on that bright moment in the future when his visit to the dentist would be over and he would once again be a free man.

"So, o'course, I says to him, I says, 'That ain't no dragon's tooth you blathering idiot! It's my first molar. That was meant to go to the Tooth Fairy!' 'Course, he didn' like that, not one bit…" Hagrid was apparently in the middle of a story that Sirius had been blocking out. "Ah, here we are." They had reached the Hogwarts gates. Hagrid fished around his pocket for a while and produced a key which he used to unlock the wrought-iron gates taller even than him. Sirius followed him out then watched as Hagrid locked the gates again. "Ready?" the big man asked cheerily.

Sirius took a deep breath then nodded. Hagrid held out his pink umbrella and Sirius placed his hand on the handle. Hagrid popped the umbrella open and just as Sirius wondered what was going to happen, everything went dark. There was a screaming whistle in his ears, like a high wind, and his body felt pinched and contorted at all angles. Everything ended just before it became painful, however, and brightness entered his vision once more. He felt cobblestone beneath his feet and heard the honking of Muggle cars. They were in an alleyway outside of an office building. An office building with a sign that read "Dr. Amir's Dental Cleaning" with the scary looking balloons and teddy bears painted around the words.

"Right then," Hagrid said, folding up his umbrella and adjusting his belt. "You jus' go on in an' I'll wait for yeh out here."

Sirius peered up at him through his mop of hair. "Can't you come in with me, Hagrid?"

"Would be a might suspicious, don't yeh think? Big feller like me an' a little feller like you?"

Sirius' lips formed a thin line. Hagrid was right. This was a battle he had to face on his own. Squaring his shoulders, he marched for the street.

"Sirius?" Hagrid called and the boy stopped to face him. "Yer robes!"

"Oh!" Sirius shrugged off his robe so that he was left in his much less conspicuous sweater, collared shirt and Gryffindor tie. After handing his robes to Hagrid, he headed back towards the street and pushed open the door to the dentist and was met with the stinging scent of toothpaste.

Hagrid waited until Sirius had been inside for several minutes before slipping off down a nearby alleyway, attempting to look innocent.

James and Remus had saved a seat for Sirius at lunch, but he didn't come back on time. It wasn't until Potions after lunch that their friend returned from his appointment. Sirius sprinted over to his classmates, who were gathered on a lawn outside the greenhouse, sketching from the selection of native plants that were growing scattered about. Sirius hastily withdrew his textbook and a piece of parchment, glancing around at what the other students were doing.

"Welcome back, Mr. Black," Professor Slughorn said, sounding bored. "We're sketching the native plants most useful in the brewing of nutritional elixirs."

Sirius gave his professor a tight-lipped smile as he nodded. James waited until Slughorn had meandered off before he sidled up to his friend. "So…" he whispered, "how was it?"

Sirius grinned, showing off his pearly whites. "Excellent."

James frowned. "Excellent? Did they use happy gas on you, mate?"

"Of course not," Sirius said, sounding preoccupied as he tugged something out of his bag. It was a colorful package with a picture of an animal on the outside, but not one that James could make out before Sirius tore it open and yanked out the contents.

James adjusted his glasses. "What is that?"

Sirius just grinned like a madman as he began to assemble Styrofoam pieces. James knew that smile. It was the smile that only meant one thing: Sirius' obsession had been fed. Whatever Sirius was assembling must have something to do with dinosaurs. Or "the Big D's" as was the rest of their code for the extinct sauropods. Normally, all it took was the mere mention of the word "dinosaur" and Sirius would launch into over an hour of lecture about the creatures.

The other three boys had found out about Sirius' obsession the hard way when, in their first year, Remus had said "sure" when Sirius had asked if he wanted to know about his dinosaur collection. Sirius had then launched into a conversation with himself that covered everything from the various species of dinosaurs to their habitats and dietary needs. After an hour and a half, Remus had broken down. His hands covered his ears and he'd screwed his eyes shut as he screamed "stop talking!" over and over, but to no avail. Once Sirius started talking about dinosaurs, there was no stopping him. Ever.

"Oh no," James breathed as he realized Sirius was assembling some sort of glider. "Is that… is that a… a…?"

"Pteranodon," Sirius announced, proudly holding up his glider. "Dentist said I could pick out a toy since I was such a good patient. I've never been good enough before to get one. Blimey, was I missing out! They had dinosaur _stickers_, dinosaur _figures_, dinosaur _erasers_. It was like heaven. I can't wait to go back."

James glanced at Professor Slughorn to make sure the Potions Master wasn't paying attention. He was preoccupied nibbling on pineapple candy. "Sirius," James hissed.

Sirius flicked some of his hair out of his eyes. "What?"

"Put that… that _thing_ away." James gestured to the glider. If he could avoid another incident with his friend, he was going to.

Sirius scowled. "What, my pteranodon? No way, mate. This baby's taking flight." With that, Sirius leapt up onto a stump, drawing the attention of the students around him.

James groaned. Sirius was about to humiliate himself in front of the entire class. Didn't he know that everyone else in the world stopped caring about dinosaurs once they turned five? "Sirius!" James hissed. "Sirius!"

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Sirius shouted, getting the attention of everyone but Slughorn. "I, Sirius Black, am about to fly a dinosaur, otherwise known as a Petra the Pteranodon."

A few amused glances were shared among the onlookers. James smiled nervously, torn between pretending his friend was nuts and supporting Sirius' delusions.

"It's a common misconception that flying dinosaurs such as these are called pterodactyls. In fact, there is no such thing as a pterodactyl. Petra the Pteranodon, however, has a wingspan of six feet across. Isn't that remarkable?"

No one made a peep. James considered just tackling Sirius off the stump.

"Pteranodons ate fish, you see, and had no teeth in their beaks. And now we will all be treated to a demonstration on how a pteranodon glides. One… two… three!" Sirius hurled his pteranodon glider into the air. The Chinese foam dipped once then crashed into the grass. Sirius scowled. "Wait, pretend that never happened!" He hopped off his stump and scampered over to his fallen dinosaur glider. Several students chuckled. James saw even more whispering to each other and he knew Sirius would be mocked by the entire school before long. Then he caught sight of one of Lily's friends snickering and realized he would likely be incriminated along with Sirius. Lily might even laugh at him. Again. This had to stop. He started towards his friend but before he could reach him, Sirius had climbed back onto the stump. "This time, it's for real. One, two, three!"

Sirius let the glider go, and it once again dipped and headed for the ground, but then… it caught a current and zoomed up into the air. The pteranodon swooped in two loops, came close to touching the ground, which caused the class to gasp, then lifted back up on a puff of breeze and flew steadily for several yards before landing gracefully.

Sirius smiled, folding his arms over his chest, looking smug. "And _that_ is how Petra the Pteranodon flies."

James waited for laughter but instead all that could be heard was the breeze rustling the leaves of the nearby trees and Professor Slughorn wiping his fingers off on the waxed paper of his pineapple candies. Finally, a voice broke the silence. "Can I have a go?"

Sirius turned to look at Edward Hamlotch, a gangly Hufflepuff.

"Can I, as well?" asked a Gryffindor girl.

Sirius shrugged. "Sure."

A chorus of "Can I's?" rung out and Sirius held up his arms.

"All right, all right, form a que. You can all have a go." Sirius hopped off his stump, helped Edward onto it, then dashed off to meet a Ravenclaw girl who had gone to fetch his pteranodon. She handed him his beloved dinosaur then James watched in shock as the entire Potions class lined up for a chance to fly Sirius' glider.

By the time James and his friends met up for dinner, the Great Hall was abuzz with handmade dinosaur gliders, some much more elaborate than others, some colored and some plain, but all were being thrown about by hands instead of wands. Sirius smiled as he took his seat and set his pteranodon glider delicately down on the table in front of him.

James couldn't believe that just a few hours ago, he'd been worried that his friend would've been a laughing stock. A first year Hufflepuff dashed over to Sirius and showed him his glider. "It's an Apatosaurus, see?"

Sirius took the glider and inspected it. "You've got the neck to tail ratio a little off but other than that, it's quite good."

The younger boy grinned. "What should I name him?"

"Well, you've got to give him a name that makes sense. Since he's an Apatosaurus, it ought to start with an A. Be alliterative."

The boy grinned enthusiastically. "Apollo the Apatosaurus it is then!"

"Brilliant!"

Sirius gave the boy a high five before the first year dashed off, already shouting to his friends that "Sirius Black says Apollo the Apatosaurus is brilliant!"

Sirius smirked and bit off a hunk of bread. James adjusted his glasses, eyeing his grey-eyed, crooked-grinned friend in a new light.

That night in bed, after Sirius enchanted Petra the Pteranodon to drift about above his head like a mobile, James realized that he would never again doubt the charisma of Sirius Black.

_**Please let me know what you think! **_


	8. Caramel Apples

**Managing Mischief**

**8. Caramel Apples**

After such a rowdy week, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were thankful to have a quiet Friday evening. In fact, though they tried to have several conversations, the boys all fell asleep before eleven on Friday night. Which was just as well, for James and Sirius both had to play a Quidditch match in the rain Saturday afternoon. James was angry because it meant he had to wear those ugly goggles to protect his glasses.

As a Seeker, James was often hovering about above the action, and as he waited for any sign of the Snitch, he kept glancing towards the Gryffindor stands, trying to spot Lily. In the sea of umbrellas, however, it was nearly impossible to find her. Still, he couldn't help but wonder if she was watching him, and if she was watching him, what was she thinking? He knew that at the very least, she'd be looking at his hair – his hair! The sodding rain had it all plastered to his face. Combined with his goggles, he must look like a troll. He hastily ruffled his wet locks with a gloved hand. Trying to distract himself, he looked down at the game going on below him.

Sirius was one of the Chasers, which meant he was in constant motion, making formations with the other Chasers in an effort to score with the Quaffle. James scanned the red Gryffindor cloaks, hunting out Sirius' form, and spotted him easily enough. His friend was one of the smallest on the team. Why Professor McGonagall and Madam Hootch hadn't made him Seeker, James didn't know.

Sirius flew into position and caught the Quaffle as it was thrown to him by another fourth year. The crowd let out a cheer as Sirius zoomed towards the goal hoops. Two Hufflepuffs were bearing down on him on either side but the smaller boy outmaneuvered them by mimicking the flight pattern of Petra the Pteranodon before scoring in the center goal hoop. The crowd roared and James clapped and cheered. They were now ahead by twenty points. If he could just catch the Snitch, then the game would be finished and Gryffindor would win.

Sirius and the other chasers were already zigzagging about, vying to get into another scoring formation. James raked his hand through his wet hair again and as he did so, he spotted a little golden light hovering around the base of the Slytherin stands. It was the Snitch! Shoving the tip of his broom handle towards the ground, he zoomed downwards, noticing the Hufflepuff Seeker mimicking him, even though she couldn't have seen the Snitch from her position across the field. James was confident he would get to the Snitch before she did, and as he neared the base of the stands, he yanked his broom up to slow down. Reaching out an arm, he swiftly headed for the hovering golden ball, only to have it zoom out of reach just as he was about to grab it. "Damn," he muttered under his breath.

"James, look out!" he heard Sirius cry and glanced over his shoulder just in time to see a Bludger heading straight for him. Yanking his broom up, James soared into the air, avoiding the blow. The Hufflepuff Seeker wasn't quite as lucky and was knocked off her broom by the Bludger after it missed James. He would've flown down to see if she was okay, but he caught sight of the Snitch again, zooming across the pitch, high above the other players.

Gritting his teeth, James angled his broom and chased after the golden ball. The Snitch paused and hovered in front of the Gryffindor stands and as James swiped at it and missed, he caught sight of red hair peeking out from under an umbrella. Lily! He realized he was smiling before the thought had even fully registered in his mind, and he let his smile grow as the umbrella tipped up to reveal Lily's matching grin. Only it wasn't Lily. It was Millicent Fletcher, a gaudy sixth year who was looking at him as if he were dog poop. James cleared his throat, his smile disappearing as he flew away once more, his cheeks burning.

Flying back up above the rest of the game, James let the rain cool his burning cheeks. He scanned the scene below him and noticed that Sirius wasn't flying half as daring as he usually was. James knew his friend was cold. He let out a deep breath. It was time to end this. His team was counting on him. His eyes scanned the pitch for any further sign of the Snitch. The Hufflepuff Seeker was already back on her broom and hovering, hunting for the Snitch as well.

They both spotted it at the same time, hovering just above Albus Dumbledore's pointed hat. Without another thought, James and the Hufflepuff Seeker whizzed through the air, making a beeline for their Headmaster. Dumbledore didn't seem to notice them until they were nearly upon him, at which point he smiled in a rather distracted way. The Snitch took off just as the two nearly crashed into Dumbledore. James thought he heard the Headmaster snort as he yanked his broom to the side and headed back towards the pitch, scanning frantically for the Snitch. The roar of the crowd, especially from Hufflepuff, told James that the other Seeker had caught the Snitch before he even saw her holding it up triumphantly.

The Gryffindors all slowed on their brooms and hovered about, watching the Hufflepuffs zoom about their Seeker, cheering. James hung his head and closed his eyes. While Quidditch was a team sport, he couldn't help but feel that he'd let his team down every time they didn't win. From the stands, Remus let out a sigh before shoving past his fellow students, making his way back to the castle. There was a whistling in the air beside James and he opened his eyes to find Sirius hovering next to him, his lips purple and his teeth chattering so bad that he looked about to fall off his broom. "C-c'mon, James," Sirius stammered.

James nodded and followed his friend back down to the pitch where the two dismounted and waited as the rest of their team followed suit. Professor McGonagall stood under the overhang of the Gryffindor stands, watching them all land while the Hufflepuffs spilled out onto the grass to congratulate the victors. "Well-played," she said once they were all present. "Now go on inside where it's warm."

James nodded and when Sirius didn't budge right away to follow him, he prodded his shoulder. Sirius was hugging himself, his teeth still chattering, and as he passed McGonagall, he shot her a glare that she could actually see, for his wet hair was clumped, revealing both of his eyes for once. McGonagall furrowed her brow as he stumbled off after James and she realized that the boy was holding the cold and wet against her personally. That was why she would never ask Madam Hootch to make Sirius Black Seeker. Despite how good he might be on a broom, he was enough of a drama queen in class, let alone on the pitch, and there was only so much she could take.

Once back in their dormitory, James and Sirius were surprised to find Remus waiting for them with mugs of hot chocolate, marshmallows and a plate heaped with peanut butter cookies warming atop the woodstove in the center of the room. The two sodden boys paused in the doorway at the sight and Remus smiled. "I knew you'd be cold."

Both James and Sirius grinned. Remus had this inexplicable nurturing quality that was a pleasant balance to their more boisterous personalities. "You're amazing, Remus," Sirius said, tugging off his soggy Quidditch robes and hanging them up on the railing to dry. It took them a while to struggle out of all of their wet clothing, but within minutes, Sirius was in his pajamas and scarf with socks on both his feet and his hands, sitting cross-legged beside Remus by the stove, blowing on a mug of cocoa.

The delight of the surprise treat was quickly wearing off on James. All he could think about was that he let his team down. Once in dry clothing, he slumped down onto his bed, digging his hands into his hair as he lay on his back. "I'm a failure."

"No, you're not," Remus said, getting up and walking over to James, holding out a mug of cocoa.

James looked at the tempting drink. "I don't deserve it."

"I'd like to see McGonagall out there on a broom," Sirius spat with such venom that the other two peered at him. "See her flying about in the rain and wind and cold. See how _she_ likes it." Sirius looked over at the two. "I'll bet you she'd cry."

James furrowed his brow. "Sirius, you're on a team. It's not exactly like she _makes_ you play. She's not even the coach."

Sirius whipped his damp head around to stare into his mug. James waited for a reply and when there wasn't one, he realized his friend was still pouting over having gotten so cold and wet like the time Bellatrix had nearly gotten him killed on the ice. Sirius seemed to be thinking the same thing, for he set down his mug and dashed over to his bed, yanking off his covers and dragging them back to the stove with him, huddling up.

Remus sighed and held the mug out to James again who reluctantly accepted. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"It's not fair," Sirius moaned, sounding like he was five.

"Oh, give it a rest, will you?" James snapped. "You scored, remember? You're not the one who lost the game. I am."

"You didn't lose the game, James. Hufflepuff won it. And we still got a fair amount of points."

"Yeah," Remus added. "That'll count towards the House Cup."

"Still…" James sighed again. "I probably looked like an idiot out there." He didn't want to say that he was worried he looked like an idiot in front of Lily since neither of the other two boys would understand how that felt. In fact, he himself wasn't sure how he felt. Lily was the enemy. But there was something about her that always caught his eye. He wanted to make her smile. At him. And that desire confused him even more than Large Marge's fling with Remus. Why were girls so complicated and confusing?

He realized that Remus and Sirius were talking and that he'd missed their entire conversation. They laughed at an inside joke. Something he didn't get. Their backs were turned to him, as if they were actively excluding him. And maybe they were. Why would they want to talk to James Potter who may have just lost the House Cup? He might as well just drop out of school now and get a job as a railroad worker. Or in the bartending business. He could probably make decent money selling butterbeer to underage witches and wizards…

Remus and Sirius were now chatting and leaning over something James couldn't see. He wanted to ask what was going on but that would take too much effort. They probably didn't want him to know, anyway, since they hadn't asked him if he'd like to join in yet. Maybe they weren't even his friends anymore.

Just then, Peter entered, pausing in the doorway to survey the scene. "What, you all came up and had a party without me?" He tugged off his wet scarf and waddled into the room, shutting the door. "What's this? Hot chocolate? Carmel apples?"

"Not quite yet," Remus said with a laugh.

James sat up and adjusted his glasses. Remus and Sirius were hunched over a tin of melting caramel sat atop the stove. "You're making caramel apples without me?" James asked.

Sirius glanced at him through his now dry hair. "Does it look like we have caramel apples, James?" He held up his green apple on a stick.

James and Peter shared a look before Peter crossed to his bed and stripped off his outer layers. James sighed and plopped back down onto his mattress. He didn't deserve a caramel apple.

Peter was content to sit on his bed and watch the other two stir the melting caramel and revel in its sweet scent. "Can I have one?"

"I'll make you one, Peter," Remus replied.

"I think it's ready," Sirius announced. He plunged his apple into the caramel without waiting for Remus' answer. After rolling it around for a few seconds, he pulled it back out, only to watch the caramel slump off in chunks. Sirius frowned.

Remus raised his brows and shook his head. "Nope. Definitely not ready. I used to make these all the time with Mum before I came to Hogwarts. The candy has to be just right."

Sirius sighed and leaned back on his haunches, tugging the socks off his hands.

"How 'bout now?"

Remus stirred the caramel. "No, not yet." Remus looked to Sirius very importantly. "You have to be more patient, Sirius."

Sirius' lip twitched. Being patient wasn't something he was very good at. James rolled his eyes as he listened to the conversation at the foot of his bed. The two sounded like fools. He wished they weren't in the room with him. He wished he could be left alone to wallow in his misery.

"All right, let's see…" Remus said. There was a soothing, calculating tone to his voice that conveyed his concentration and almost made James sleepy. Remus dipped his apple into the caramel and slowly twirled it. Sirius was on his knees and leaned over, peering closely at Remus' handiwork. After several turns, Remus' red apple was suitably coated and he held it up above the caramel, spinning it the whole time. Sirius watched with rapt attention as the caramel slid down the apple, thickening as it cooled. Once he was satisfied with his work, Remus set the apple down onto a piece of parchment to finish cooling. He turned to Sirius with a smile. "See?"

Sirius pursed his lips. "Do another."

Remus stuck a stick into a green apple and repeated the process. After having watched twice, Sirius felt confident that he could also master the technique. He dunked his apple into the caramel and began to swirl. Remus watched him with an experienced eye. "Don't put on too much caramel or it'll slide off."

Sirius pulled his apple out of the caramel and was twirling it to help it dry when Remus turned his back to check on the two finished apples. Sirius seized his opportunity and dunked his apple in again, wanting more caramel than the anemic apples Remus had made. If Remus noticed Sirius' crime, he didn't mention it. He made a fourth apple for James then set them all aside to cool.

"When can we eat them?" Peter asked.

"In a little while," Remus said, licking caramel off his fingers. "You'll burn your tongue on them now."

"Oi! James!" Sirius barked. James sighed and propped himself up on his elbows to look at his friend. "You're awfully quiet."

James rubbed his eyes behind his glasses. "Maybe I just haven't got anything to say."

Sirius got up and headed over to his bed. He gently caught Petra the Pteranodon and held it out to James. "You can play with him, if you like. It'll make you feel better."

James took the dinosaur from his friend because he knew that to do otherwise would be an insult. "Thanks."

Sirius headed back to the stove, still convinced that he was cold. James tossed the dinosaur glider a few times, watching the toy's easeful flight. By the fifth time he tossed it, he realized begrudgingly that Sirius was right: it was making him feel better.

Remus had deemed the apples to be ready and carried them back over to the stove. Sirius frowned when he spotted his. Half of the caramel had pooled beneath his apple. Remus shot him a knowing glance and Sirius tried not to look sheepish as he wrestled with the parchment to retrieve his apple.

After Peter and James each had theirs, the boys dug in. Peter attempted to find a cleanly way to eat his caramel apple until he finally realized that there wasn't one. James was surprised to discover how hungry he was and scarfed his down. Sirius was a sticky mess before he even started on his, and Remus, the veteran of the group, was faring better than his grey-eyed friend.

Sirius had almost finished his apple when something whacked him in the face and stuck to his hair. He looked over to find Remus laughing and realized the boy had just thrown a piece of his apple core at him. Sirius glared and flung his stem at the other boy. Remus dodged and the stem bounced off the tin of cooling caramel with a _ping_! Sirius and Remus looked at the tin, then at each other. They lunged at the same time and nearly bonked heads as they went at the leftover caramel.

All James had seen was a sudden burst of violence and was surprised to find his two friends eating out of the same tin on the floor, their hands their utensils, growling at each other like dogs. "What the…?"

Sirius grabbed the tin and sprinted across the room before holding it up and licking whatever was left. Remus tackled him and the two proceeded to try to steal the tin out of each other's sticky fingers. James got to his feet, ready to intervene if needed, but he couldn't quite decide if the two were play fighting or serious. Neither could they, apparently, for yelps of pain were erupting almost as often as bouts of laughter.

At last, Remus managed to pry the tin from Sirius' hand and dashed over by Peter's bed, only to scowl at the near-empty prize. "Hey."

Sirius smirked. He didn't duck fast enough as Remus hurled the tin at him like a weapon and it struck him in the shoulder. "Remus!"

Remus laughed far more than was normal. Sirius, James and Peter all slowly looked to each other. "The full moon's tomorrow, isn't it?" Peter asked.

James glanced at the calendar. "Yes. It is."

Sirius swallowed hard. Remus was still belly laughing in the corner. He always got loopy the night before he transformed, and amidst the chaos of the past week, the full moon had managed to sneak up on them. Sirius was brought back to the present when Remus hurled a wet sock at his face. "Remus!"

Remus merely dashed over to the railing to get more wet clothing ammunition. Sirius ran over to try to beat him to it and the two wound up in a tug of war over a pair of trousers. "Mine!" Remus shouted, his cheeks glistening with the sheen of caramel.

"No, Remus, those are Sirius' trousers," James corrected from his bed. He wasn't going to get physically involved unless he had to.

Remus suddenly let go, which sent Sirius tumbling onto his backside, bumping his head against one of the posts on his bed. "Ow!"

Remus' normally compassionate amber eyes had transformed into those of an amused lunatic. He laughed all the harder at Sirius' misfortune and dashed off to find something to make it worse. Sirius watched with a scowl as Remus grabbed Peter's soaked scarf and advanced on him with giggles.

"James! Stop him!" Sirius leaned against the foot of his bed to try to slowly rise as Remus neared.

James shook his head. "You got yourself into this, mate."

"Me?" Sirius just had time to shoot James a betrayed look before Remus tried to fling the soggy scarf at him. Sirius ducked out of the way and lunged towards the stove.

"You're the one who got him all wound up," James replied.

Remus was now chasing Sirius around the stove, laughing like a toddler playing chase. Sirius didn't find the game half as amusing and was desperately dodging the tail end of the wet scarf as Remus whipped it at him. After missing several times, Remus feinted to the left, making Sirius fall for the trap by dodging right, earning himself a whack in the face from Peter's wet scarf. Sirius squealed making James and Peter join in with Remus' taunting laughter.

"It's not funny!" Sirius growled, hiding his face in his hands in an attempt to ward off further attack.

Remus abandoned the scarf and dashed for something on his nightstand. While he was preoccupied, Sirius climbed up onto his bed. He hastily began to yank his bed curtains shut in an attempt to hide. Remus returned, bearing his wand, and when he pointed it at Sirius with a maniacal laugh, Sirius yelped and let go of his curtains.

"Uh, Remus," James shouted, trying to distract the werewolf now that things had escalated. "Let's play a game."

Remus ignored him, slowly advancing upon Sirius with his wand. Sirius was on his back, scrambling against his pillows, leaning away from the tip. "James, stop him!"

James' mind raced but try as he might, he couldn't think of anything that could stop Remus other than tackling him.

"Dinner!" Peter shouted. "We've forgotten about dinner! C'mon, everyone, it's time to eat." Peter hopped off his bed.

Remus glanced at the windows. It was dark out by now. He slowly straightened and tucked his wand away. Sirius didn't dare move until Remus had taken several steps back from his bed.

"Great thinking," James said, heading for the door. "Better hurry before they put all the food away." Remus had backed off but was still eyeing Sirius with a mischievous eye that James wasn't very comfortable with. "And cake. _Chocolate_ cake." The word "chocolate" had a similar effect on Remus as the word "dinosaur" had on Sirius: it drew his instant attention. Remus whipped his head around to face James who forced himself to smile.

"Chocolate cake?" Remus asked, sounding much more like his old self. "Really?"

"Only one way to find out."

Remus bolted for the door and was nearly bowled over by Peter who was just as determined to get to the cake. Once his tormenter was gone, Sirius sat up and crawled to the edge of his bed. "Get rid of any more caramel apple stuff, quick!"

James flicked his wand and said "Scourgify" and had disposed of the mess within seconds. After washing off his own hands and face, Sirius headed down to the Great Hall with James, not bothering that he was in his pajamas and scarf. On the way there, the two vowed to nick Remus' wand off of him that night before he could cause any damage.

Much to James' relief, there actually was a chocolate cake available for students who wanted some. Given that it was one of the only things that calmed Remus in these pre-lunar episodes, James couldn't help but wonder if Dumbledore had asked the House Elves to make it especially for the werewolf. Remus was much calmer at dinner, though every once in a while he still cast one of the four of them a suspiciously mischievous look.

That night, Sirius lay hidden under his covers, afraid of drawing Remus' attention if he came out. Peter was asleep and James was snickering softly as Remus quietly explained to him the order of the world as he saw it in his loopy brain. He even had a stuffed animal cat that his mother had made him as a visual aid.

Remus fell quiet as he examined his cat in the light from James' wand and Sirius deemed it safe enough to peek out. Remus sighed and showed James his cat, which was sewn rather like a person and had button eyes and drawn-on features. "Kitty cats don't really have belly buttons like that, you know," Remus whispered conspiratorially, pointing out the small O on his cat's belly.

James nodded, entertained. "I know."

"In fact, they don't have arms or legs like this, either. They walk around on all fours like Professor McGonagall." James snorted. "When she's a cat, I mean," Remus continued in his quiet voice. "Sometimes Grandpa tells me to put the toilet seat down. Other times I eat cookies. Did you know, this one time, Joseph Stalin – he was this muggle dictator – ate a pickle and said 'Ew, I don't want that,' so I took it. And then the pickle grew into an octopus and floated away." Remus paused, shaking his head. "I don't like octopuses. Or octopi. When you think it's raining outside your window it's actually a hose that's been left on half the time. Is my hair curly? I think it's straight. This other time, I was walking down the street, well, not really the street, but the sidewalk, and I saw this man with blue hair and a cape that was really the flag of California running past with his fat belly and…"

Sirius' eyelids were drooping. Something about Remus' voice, despite the lunacy of what he was saying, was soothing. Once Sirius started twitching in his sleep, James realized he was the only one left awake besides Remus, who seemed intent on voicing every random thought that came into his head. This was going to be a long night.

_**Please let me know what you think! **_


	9. Conspiring

_**Author's Note: **__Thank you all for your corrections on my Quidditch scene. It's been a while since I've read the books, so I did some research online in an attempt to accurately portray the game, but it seems it was for naught! ;) I'll keep James as a Seeker in this story because it has little impact on the plot. In fact…_

_I should probably state now that I'm not terribly worried about being canon. I won't change anything big, of course, but I'm also not J.K. Rowling (duh ;) ). This is sort of an AU story. For instance, in future chapters, we'll get glimpses of the modern muggle world rather than that of the 1970's. Glimpses that may or may not involve James embarrassing himself by texting Lily…_

**Managing Mischief**

**9. Conspiring**

After Remus was led away the following afternoon and taken to the Shrieking Shack by Hagrid, the three remaining Marauders sat in their dormitory in silence. The stillness of the room felt all the more eerie with the memory of Remus' goofy laughter the night before. Sirius sighed and lay down on his bed, watching Petra glide above him in lazy circles. The wind howled outside and the mere thought of their friend alone in such cold weather was enough to make Sirius want to sneak into the Shack with him. Apparently he wasn't the only one with such thoughts.

"This has got to stop," James said firmly, causing the two other boys to look at him. "There's got to be something more we can do. It isn't fair."

"Makes me want to sneak out there to keep him company," Sirius said, propping himself up on his elbows.

"We can't, you know how dangerous that is," Peter said. He shook his head. "We can't risk one of us getting hurt."

"Yeah, Remus could be expelled for that," James said glumly.

"And he'd feel awful," Sirius added with a grimace.

"There's just got to be _some_thing." James groaned.

"What about your invisibility cloak?" Sirius asked. "We could all hide under that and go visit him."

"Yeah, but then what good would that be?" Peter asked. "He wouldn't know we were there."

"We could say hi."

"If we said hi, he'd try to bite us, Sirius," Peter said.

"He couldn't bite us if we were invisible."

"He would _smell_ us," Peter continued. "They can smell humans from like, thirty yards or something. Probably more."

"Then we cover ourselves with a different scent," Sirius said, sitting up all the way with excitement. "Flowers or dirt or, or other wolves!"

"Hang on," James said, drawing their attention. His brows were furrowed.

"That's stupid," Peter murmured.

"No, he's onto something," James continued in his clear tone. "Werewolves only attack other humans. But disguising our scent wouldn't be enough. We'd have to disguise our bodies, too. We'd have to be able to transform."

Peter frowned. "Transform? Into what? How?"

Sirius was grinning. "Animagi."

James smirked. "Exactly."

"Wait, what?" Peter looked between the two. "But that's like, impossible. It's really, really advanced magic. Only Professor McGonagall can do that."

"She was a kid once, too, wasn't she?" James asked.

"I doubt that…" Sirius muttered.

"She learned somehow. If she could do it, then we could."

"But James," Peter said, sounding so concerned that he was nearly whining. "Professor McGonagall is really, really smart."

Sirius lifted his eyebrows, though no one could much see under his hair. "She got a T in Herbology."

Both Peter and James whipped their heads to him. "What?"

"Madam Pomfrey told me the night they thought I was poisoned but had really just eaten a spicy radish. They told me she got a T in Herbology when she was at school."

James and Peter stared at Sirius for a few seconds before Peter let out a brief giggle. "No way."

"Way. Only I promised not to tell anyone, so we've got to keep it a secret, all right?"

The other two boys nodded. "I never reckoned she was exactly a genius," James said. "I mean, she forgot about me in detention." Peter started laughing but cut himself short when James glared.

"We could use your cloak, James," Sirius continued. "We could sneak into the library and into the Restricted Section. I'll bet there're loads of books about doing all sorts of nasty things in there."

"Nasty how?" Peter asked.

"Yeah," James said with a nervous laugh, adjusting his glasses as he inadvertently thought of Lily. "What do you mean by 'nasty'?"

"Like, how to turn people into horny –" A corner of James' mouth twitched "– toads, tape dispensers, ants, that sort of thing."

Peter shivered. He was afraid of ants, which made life very inconvenient. James was a little let down by his friend's idea of nasty, but was so surprised by his disappointment that he suddenly felt awkward.

"I'll bet we can figure it out in a couple of weeks if we have a book to help us," Sirius continued. "Transfiguration is about the easiest thing there is."

"Yeah, for you, maybe." Peter scowled. "I'm rubbish at it."

"No, you're not," Sirius said. "You got an E on your last test, remember?"

Peter stared from beneath hooded eyes.

Sirius furrowed his brow. "What?"

"That's because I cheated by looking at James' paper."

James had been busy wondering what Lily's interpretation of the word "nasty" was but blinked back to reality at Peter's confession. "Wha?"

"Peter, that's really bad," Sirius snapped. "What if you'd been caught? Then both you _and_ James would've been in trouble."

"Well I wasn't, was I?"

"That's not the point. If you don't learn it now, you'll never know it, and you can't expect James and I to show up at your house every time you want to transfigure water into ice cubes when you're fifty."

Peter's frown deepened. "Fifty?"

"The point," James interjected, "is that if you need help you ought to just ask us, Peter, not cheat."

Peter looked down at his feet and was quiet for a long while. When he finally spoke, his voice was soft. "I didn't want you to think I was stupid."

James and Sirius shared a look. Peter had never been the brightest among them, and they knew he often zoned out during conversations, but they had never minded his benign presence and didn't want to hurt his feelings. "The only stupid thing is not asking for help," Sirius said. "And Remus can't ask us for help. We've got to try this."

James nodded. "I'm in. Peter?"

Peter sighed and nodded his head. "If you lot help me."

"Of course we will, you tosspot," James said with a smirk. Peter slowly smiled.

When they were allowed to visit Remus in the hospital the following morning, they were relieved that his injuries didn't appear very severe. The contrast of their quiet, caring friend suddenly craving pain and destruction never ceased to bother the other three boys. Had he not known any better, James would've imagined Remus to be a comedic ball of fluff when transformed into a werewolf. Instead, he was a lean, snarling pair of jaws lined with razor sharp teeth that wanted nothing more than to sink into naked human flesh. The thought reminded James that when they did succeed in becoming animagi, they would have to make sure to transfigure into something… big.

Remus smiled at the three as they neared his bed.

"How're you feeling?" Sirius asked.

"Good."

James glanced at the bandage on Remus' arm. "Bad bite?"

"It's healing. It'll probably be gone by the end of the day. How was your night?"

"Boring," Peter said with a smirk, sitting down in a nearby chair. He furrowed his brow when he noticed an old muggle telephone sitting on Remus' bedside table. "What's that?"

Remus followed his gaze. "Oh, that's a telephone."

"Really?" Sirius peered at the phone from every angle. "How peculiar."

"Has it been enchanted or something?" James asked.

"No," Remus replied. "It's just a regular old telephone. Except that it can only call one person, and only one person can call me."

"Madam Pomfrey?" Peter asked.

"No, Professor Dumbledore," Remus explained. "That way, if I ever have a problem with my, well, you know, problem, or if, say, any of you have a problem with my problem, all you have to do is pull the phone out from under my bed and dial."

Sirius grinned. "Can I try?"

"No," Remus said, his voice so firm that Sirius looked crestfallen. "This is serious, Sirius. It's not a toy. It's for emergencies, only."

James snickered. Peter shot the tall boy an amused look. "What?"

"Yeah, Sirius," James taunted, prompting Sirius narrow his one visible grey eye. "Why can't you be more serious, Sirius? I mean, seriously, Sirius. You seriously need to be more serious, Sirius." The other two boys giggled.

The one visible eye was now a slit. "Like you're the first person to ever come up with that joke. In fact, I'm amazed it took you so long."

"At least your middle name isn't Lee," Peter added with a chuckle. Sirius whipped his head around to face the strawberry blonde, surprised by his rare display of wit.

"What is your middle name, Sirius?" Remus asked.

Sirius shifted uncomfortably. "What's yours?"

"John William."

"Mine's Reynold," James said. "After my dad."

"Mine's Eustace," Peter said, looking slightly embarrassed. "I'm not sure why, though." The other three boys couldn't help but think that maybe it was because it sounded like "useless," but then each banished the thought as evil.

"So come on, then," James continued, looking at Sirius. "What's yours?"

"That's the problem," Sirius murmured. "There isn't just one."

"Well, mine's two," Remus encouraged.

"It isn't just two, either."

"It can't possibly be worse than Eustace," Peter said.

"It possibly can." Sirius grimaced. "Just forget it."

A chorus of "oh, come ons" echoed from James and Peter. When Sirius ignored them, Remus suddenly looked very frail and couldn't speak without coughing.

"I need… to rest…"

"Sorry, we'll go then," James said.

"But first…" Remus sounded rather like Tiny Tim from _A Christmas Carol_. "I need… to know… your name…"

The three boys looked at each other with worried expressions. "Well, all right, then, if it means that much to you," Sirius said. "Are you sure you're all right?"

Remus coughed theatrically then nodded, tugging the blankets up to his chin. "I will be…" His eyes drifted shut.

Sirius sighed. "Sirius Orion Alliard Gustave Leonide Yvain Adolphus Oliver Black."

A smile formed on Remus' pale face. Then something strange happened. His cheeks flushed and his lips pressed together and he nearly appeared to be convulsing.

Sirius frowned. "Remus?" He shook his friends' shoulders. Remus burst into laughter, his feebleness faded away. Sirius glared. "Liar."

Peter and James' laughter joined in with Remus', and Sirius found himself smirking despite himself, for the sight of Remus in such good spirits after having transformed the night before was a welcome one.

_**Please let me know what you think!**_


	10. Christmas Eve

_**Author's Note: **__For anyone wondering who my partner in crime who helped me come up with most of this madness is, my sister is on here as Alex Took and she recently wrote and posted a wonderful Snape fic if you're at all interested. Check it out! She's on my favorite author's list._

**Managing Mischief**

**10. Christmas Eve**

There was only a week and a half until the Christmas holiday, so James and Sirius took advantage of the rest of their time at school to sneak into the Forbidden Section of the library at night, hidden under James' invisibility cloak. Their research was more difficult than they'd anticipated, for they couldn't take any of the books out of the section, and taking notes while under a cloak was cramped and difficult at best. So instead, they set about memorizing each new piece of information that they learned.

Sirius wasn't much intrigued by the titles of the more frightening books, for many of them were on the shelves at home and he had looked at them when he was small, hunting for pictures. James, on the other hand, was rather intrigued by the titles and kept getting distracted as they hunted for spines with the word "Transfiguration" in the title.

"What do you reckon _The Many Uses of the Human Intestine_ is about?" he whispered one night.

Sirius didn't even have to look at the book. "It's about how many different ways you can pull out someone's innards and do nasty things to them while they're still alive."

Sirius' voice was so casual and pensive as he scanned the titles that James was a little disturbed. "You've read it?"

"No, Bella has. She used to pretend it was a picture book and read it to me when I was small. Claimed it was a story about a little boy who misbehaved and what he got for it."

James stared at his friend beneath the cloak. "And I thought _The Poky Little Puppy_ was suspenseful…"

Sirius sighed. "Guess I'll be forced to spend time with her again this Christmas."

"Bellatrix?"

Sirius nodded, tugging a book off the shelf and leafing through it.

"Narcissa says she has a big announcement to make, too. Mum reckons she's engaged."

"Must be kinda nice to have cousins."

Sirius slowly looked to him.

"What?"

"Haven't you heard a word I just said?"

"Yeah."

"They're awful."

"Andromeda doesn't seem all that bad."

Sirius returned the book to the shelf. "She isn't, but then again, how would anyone know? She can hardly get a word in edgewise with those two as her big sisters. What about _The Essential Guide to the Uses of Human Toenails_?"

"Sirius, we need to leave the anatomy section."

While they were able to gain some insight into the start of the process, the learning curve was much steeper than they had anticipated and they didn't get much accomplished before wishing each other farewell for Christmas.

The train ride to King's Cross Station was relatively quiet. Remus was reading, James was putting the finishing touches on his Christmas list, Peter was sleeping, and Sirius was chewing his nails, fretting over the holiday. Remus looked up from his book and glanced at Sirius. "I'm sure it won't be that bad, Sirius."

"What if Bellatrix wants to go ice skating again?" Sirius asked, his one visible grey eye wide.

"Then you tell her to get stuffed," James said without looking up from his list. He was starring the items he wanted most. "You can't live in fear of her your whole life."

"She is a bully," Remus said with a sigh.

"Yeah," Sirius said, slumping in his seat, looking rather forlorn as they arrived at Platform 9 3/4 . "Maybe I'll pretend I'm ill or something."

James tucked his list away and pulled out his wand. "I could hex you now, if you like."

Sirius glared. "And miss Christmas? No way, you git."

James shrugged. "I was only trying to help."

"Sausages!" Peter shouted in his sleep, waking himself up and startling the other three boys in the compartment with him. He blinked around in confusion. "Oh."

The Hogwarts Express came to a complete stop and the hissing of the steam outside told the boys that it was time to disembark. They gathered their belongings then patted each other's backs as they parted ways on the platform, each heading for his respective parents with promises to write. Everyone's parents welcomed their sons home for the holidays with open arms. Everyone's except for Sirius', that is. Regulus had hopped off the train before Sirius and seemed to have already soaked up all of the affection Walburga was capable of, and Sirius was left with Kreacher. The crotchety old elf snatched up Sirius' belongings and waddled off with a grumbled "Alright, alright," as if they had been in the middle of an argument.

Once back at home at Grimmauld Place, Sirius entered his room and grinned as he was greeted by his beautiful dinosaur collection. Lining his shelves were various models of stegosaurus, tyrannosaurus, triceratops, apatosaurus, dimetrodon, parasaurolophus, pachycephalosaurus, brachiosaurus, and many more, all moving about and making quiet sounds, just as if they were alive. Taking a cloth, Sirius dusted off and greeted each member of his collection, for he knew them all by name and each had held a special place in his heart since childhood.

Needle the brachiosaurus was especially dusty. He wasn't named for his needle-like teeth, as one would expect, but for the occasion on which he was given to Sirius. Walburga had a habit of trying to placate her eldest son by giving him gifts when she felt she'd gone astray in her parenting. Needle was given to Sirius when he was eight after she had dragged him to a wizard Healer who operated out of the back room of a muggle doctor's office. The man had claimed to have a serum that, when injected into another wizard, would protect him from all sorts of muggle sicknesses, cooties, germs, and most dangerous of all, interests. It was only after the alleged Healer had repeatedly stabbed Sirius' arm in an attempt to give him an injection that Walburga discovered the man was no wizard at all, but rather a Squib con artist. Sirius had shrieked for an hour over the traumatizing event, and buying him a dinosaur was the only way he shut up. And thus, Needle was named.

Band-Aid the triceratops was next, for she was given to Sirius after the several needle punctures from the Squib con-artist became infected and gave him a 103 degree fever. Sirius didn't remember much of the incident other than disturbing hallucinations of multi-colored elephants falling on him, but he was happy to have received a dinosaur out of it anyway. Especially one as cool as Band-Aid who could attack other dinosaurs with her horns. She was named Band-Aid because Sirius had had to wear a bandage on his healing arm for over a week.

Then there was Fire, the tyrannosaurus. Sirius and Regulus had been warming their backs by the fire in the living room one winter's night when they had asked Kreacher to entertain them with a song and dance. The house elf had shuffled around grunting for a few minutes, making the two belly laugh as he attempted an elfin version of the Highland fling. Walburga wasn't in the room, so Kreacher felt free to be a little vindictive when he realized the boys were having fun at his expense. "You think that's funny?" Kreacher had asked in his gravelly voice with an inexplicable hint of a New York accent. "I'll show ya funny!" With that, he had snapped his fingers and something horrible happened. Regulus had been leaning forward to reach a cookie and was thus out of range, leaving Sirius to bear the blunt of it. The fire behind him had roared to life at Kreacher's snap, setting Sirius' back on fire.

Walburga had rushed in at the sound of so much screaming from Sirius and cussing from Kreacher. Without hesitating, she doused Sirius' back with water from her wand then rushed him to a Healer. Within minutes, the Healer had been able to heal the burns, but Sirius never trusted Kreacher again and often took to tripping him when his mother wasn't around. The incident had essentially started a feud between the boy and the elf who both had to compete for Walburga's attention. Every once in a while, Sirius would look at Fire and wonder if he was worth it. Then the tyrannosaurus rex would let out a mighty bellow and Sirius knew that while he wouldn't willingly endure torture like that again, it was worth it to have met Fire.

Once his dinosaur collection was all dusted and checked over, Sirius let Fire attack Band-Aid and Thermometer (named after an incident Sirius would rather not recall when he was four and his mother's attempt to use a muggle thermometer went south in more ways than one). Being a dimetrodon encumbered with a large sail on its back, Thermometer wasn't very interesting to watch fight, so Sirius switched him out for both Needle and Broken-Arm, the parasaurolophus. Before Fire could "kill" Band-Air and Broken-Arm, it was time for dinner.

Meanwhile, at James' house, he was giddly counting down the days until Christmas. He crossed off that day on the calendar with a laughing Santa who periodically asked if he'd been naughty or nice. Only three days to go. After he'd been collected at King's Cross, he had gone with his parents to pick out a Christmas tree in Diagon Alley. They chose a tall, voluminous Douglas Fir with iridescent lights on the tips of several needles. It was dusk now, and James turned to look at their beautiful tree which was largely green but its needle tips shifted into hues of white, like gathered snow, then into a festive blue and red. Though as much as he admired the tree, he couldn't help but think that it would look better with lots of presents for him under it.

His mind began to wander and he daydreamed up a scenario where Lily Evans came to call on Christmas Eve and the two found themselves under a piece of mistletoe… James shook his head. What was _with_ him lately? Lily was consuming his thoughts in ways he had never even known she could. Grabbing a Christmas cookie, James sat down at the table and began to nibble. Everyone kept remarking on how tall he was getting, so he reminded himself that it was probably just the hormones influencing his thoughts. He couldn't really be attracted to Lily Evans, Snivillus' best friend, Large Marge's accomplice… could he?

With a jolt that made him sit up straight, he realized that he was. There was no use denying it anymore. He was attracted to Lily Evans and if he could right now, he would kiss her. The relief of admitting this to himself made him grin, but his joy was short lived. The other Marauders still saw Lily as the enemy. Oh no! His longing for her was forbidden, which made him want her all the more. He would have to keep his feelings a secret. He felt like Romeo or Lancelot or some other guy in a tragic love triangle. Wasn't there one in that film _Pearl Harbor_? Yeah, there was, but then, who would he be, Ben Affleck or Josh Hartnett? Which one was hotter?

Wait, love _triangle_? A piece of the cookie started to fall out of James' mouth and stuck to his moist lip. It was just he and Lily, which made sort of a straight line, not a triangle. But there was another keeping them apart, certainly, which would form a triangle. But wait, there wasn't just one, there were three: the rest of the Marauders. What was a five-sided shape? A pentagon? He was in a love pentagon. He scraped the crumb off his lip and chewed, staring at the wall ahead of him.

No, love pentagon sounded too dorky. And he highly doubted Remus would have any problem with his feelings for Lily. The boy was always so understanding and supportive. Peter would just wait to see what everyone else said then nod in agreement, like Italy. So it really wasn't a pentagon at all. It was… James slammed his fist down on the table. Sirius made up the other corner of the triangle. Sirius would never understand how he felt about Lily, not after Large Marge had permanently stamped his ribcage with her buttox. It was Sirius who stood in the way of James and his love, his happiness. It was Sirius who was ruining his life. How could his best friend do such a thing? How could his best friend betray him?

James took a swig of milk and smacked his lips. He would have to do something about this, and soon… He blinked. What was he thinking? A love-triangle with Sirius? The only way that worked was if Sirius was in love with one of them, and he certainly wasn't. In fact, if anything, the boy seemed to have a very stunted awareness of anything involving romance. He had no clue that half the girls' dormitory liked to sneak glances at him in class, just for a thrill. Had he really just let all of that go through his head about his best friend betraying him?

"Bloody hell," he sighed, rubbing his eyes behind his glasses. He'd been taken hostage by his hormones.

Remus, on the other hand, was having a delightful time leading up to the holiday. After heading out with his parents and buying presents for all of his friends, he spent the time making cookies, decorating the house, sending out cards, and even caroling on Christmas Eve. Given that his transformation had occurred over a week before, it was special cause for celebration since he wouldn't be ill at all over the holiday. In fact, Remus felt good enough to tackle making truffles by hand. They turned out so well that it marked a change in the boy's life. From then on, he became fascinated with the Culinary Arts.

Peter's holiday was quite boring, which suited him and his family just fine, so there is no use dwelling on them here.

On the night of Christmas Eve, while James was busy trying to not think of Lily, Remus was baking Santa gourmet cookies, and Peter was… being Peter, Sirius was hanging a small wreath above his dinosaur collection. Regulus kicked open the door that had been left ajar and strolled in, munching on a cookie that Sirius had specifically decorated for The S Man himself. "What's that stupid thing?" Regulus asked, spewing crumbs as he spoke.

"Regulus!"

"What?"

Sirius glared. "That was for Father Christmas!"

Regulus shrugged as he popped the rest of the cookie in his mouth. "So?"

"So I set it out by the fireplace for him, not you."

"I know, that's where I got it."

"Regulus!" Sirius stamped his foot.

"Who cares? He's not real anyway." Regulus plopped down to lounge on his brother's bed.

"And how could you ever know that?"

Regulus laughed. "I can't believe this. You're fourteen, Sirius. I'm a year younger than you an even _I_ knew that Father Christmas didn't exist _years_ ago. Mum's right – you are the slow one."

"Just because you haven't seen him doesn't mean he isn't real."

Regulus looked at his nails. "Yeah, and why does that sound familiar? Oh, that's right. That's what you're always saying about your precious dinosaurs. Well guess what, Sirius, you can't see dinosaurs anymore because they're _extinct_."

Sirius grabbed a pillow and whacked Regulus in the head with it.

His younger brother immediately started whining and bolted from the room. "Mother! Mother! Sirius hit me with a pillow!"

"Did not!" Sirius shouted, even as he chased Regulus down the stairs with said pillow. Regulus was almost at the landing when Sirius chucked it and struck him in the back. Regulus stumbled then looked up at Sirius with a grin. "_Extiiiiinct_."

Sirius let out a growl then tore down the stairs after him, making Regulus scream as he ran. The two bolted into the sitting room where Walburga was slumped in an armchair by the fire while Kreacher rubbed her feet.

"Mum, Mum help!" Regulus shrieked. Walburga didn't even bat an eye as Sirius tackled Regulus onto the couch.

"Take it back!"

Regulus shoved then started to laugh. "Mum he thinks Santa Clause is real!"

Walburga giggled then hiccoughed and fell silent, as if surprised by her own bodily function.

Sirius grabbed a pillow from the couch and smashed it against Regulus face, only to have Regulus thrash so much that they both fell off the couch and bonked their heads.

"Oh," Walburga said in a distracted way before waving her hand. "Enough, boys."

Regulus was trying to tear out a clump of Sirius' hair but the older boy spared a moment to glance up at his mother. She was holding an empty bottle of hard apple cider that even from several feet away Sirius could tell had been spiked with firewhiskey.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Kreacher said, his hint of New Yoker particularly strong whenever he used the redundant phrase. "You heard your mother. Out. Out!"

"Mum, what are you drinking?" Sirius shoved Regulus' hands away from his head and got up. Regulus pouted on the floor as Sirius approached their mother.

Walburga smiled, her eyes unfocused. "It's just a little Christmas treat for mummy, dear." She clutched the bottle to her chest. "Not for children. Now go along and get ready for bed. Santa only comes when you're asleep."

"Mum!" Regulus whined. "You know he's not real."

"Of course he's real, who do you think gave me the firewhiskey last year to help me get through the holidays with you two?" Walburga snapped.

Sirius and Regulus exchanged a suspicious look.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Kreacher enthused. "Who do you think?" He had a habit of repeating his mistress' statements like a parrot.

Sirius picked out another few cookies and left them out on a plate for the Big Man. Then, after noticing the way Kreacher was eyeing them, moved the plate atop the mantle where the elf couldn't reach.

"Bastard," Kreacher muttered as Sirius walked past. Sirius stuck his tongue out at the elf.

"When's dad coming home?" Sirius asked his mother who was only half awake.

"Hmm? Oh. He's not. Still away on business, dear. Now off to bed."

Sirius sighed. "C'mon, Reg." The two headed upstairs. Neither had seen their father in years. Whenever they were home from school he was always conveniently away on "business." Regulus claimed to get letters from him and to have seen him once recently in Hogsmeade, but Sirius was beginning to doubt that the man had ever existed at all and that it was really their mother writing to Regulus and dressing up as a man now and then to give them "sightings."

"She's drunk," Regulus said. "Otherwise she wouldn't've said that. She knows Santa doesn't exist. Everyone who isn't a baby knows that."

"How can you accept that giants and goblins and unicorns and spells exist but not Father Christmas?"

Regulus fidgeted uncomfortably. "No one ever sees him. It's different."

"You can't _see_ magic, Reg. But it's there all the same. Maybe the man is gone but his magic still remains."

Regulus seemed to consider this for a few moments before biting his lip. "Happy Christmas," Regulus said as he opened the door to his room.

"Happy Christmas." Sirius grabbed the pillow he'd used as a weapon before then slipped into his room. Snow was falling outside, illuminated by the crescent moon, making the landscape appear altogether magical. As Sirius lay down to sleep, his last thoughts were of his friends, hoping they were having a wonderful time. His mind then began to wander, slipping and sliding out of sense and space as sleep called to him. The last thing he heard before he drifted off were jingle bells and the sounds of hooves and a sled landing on the roof.

_**Please let me know what you think! :)**_


	11. A Not So Merry Christmas

**Managing Mischief**

**11. A Not So Merry Christmas**

It was late Christmas morning when they arrived. Sirius and Regulus had awoken early and opened their gifts under the tree while their mother was still sleeping off her firewhiskey and Kreacher was curled up in his cupboard. Walburga had given Sirius a spoon and Regulus a fork. Their "father" had mailed them each a piece of muggle rubbish with a note that read "_Found these on my travels_": Sirius' was an empty cigarette pack and Regulus' was an empty fish food container that smelled awful. The S Man always pulled through, however, and Sirius was delighted to discover that he had left him a velociraptor, which Sirius named Santa Clause, and Regulus a copy of all three _Lord of the Rings_ books. Walburga was functional and preparing for company by eleven, and Sirius was alone in his room when he heard the pop of people Apparating outside.

Looking out his window, he spotted Bellatrix and Andromeda with their parents and another man, approaching the door. But where was Narcissa? As if on cue, there was another pop and Narcissa appeared… holding onto the arm of another woman. Sirius slowly backed away from the window. His mother had told him in a letter that she suspected his cousin was engaged, but she didn't say it was to another woman.

Thoroughly baffled, Sirius peeked out the window once more and caught a glimpse of straight white hair held in a ponytail by a black bow before his relatives knocked on the door. Sirius attempted to compose himself. It isn't polite to stare, he chided himself mentally, even before heading downstairs to greet his cousins. He would have to do his best to remain polite to this… woman.

Walburga's voice echoed throughout the house as she cheerily greeted her guests and welcomed them inside. Sirius made his way halfway down the stairs and spotted Kreacher shuffling to the closet, so burdened by coats that he looked like a mobile, grunting pile of them. He was tempted to help the elf but figured he'd get bitten for his efforts. Cygnus, Walburga's brother, and his wife Druella were both tall people, which was why Sirius could never understand why Bellatrix was so short. In fact, he often worried that there was a midget gene in the family and that he'd gotten it along with Bellatrix, for there were days when it felt like the whole school was taller than him, aside from Remus.

Bellatrix smiled when she spotted his feet on the stair, making Sirius sneer as he descended. In all his preoccupation with Narcissa and her girlfriend, he temporarily forgot about his other cousin and – he froze in mid-step. Bellatrix was holding hands with a man whose chest was like a Honeydukes barrel, though Sirius doubted there was anything sweet inside. The woman Narcissa had arrived with had her back turned as she dusted off her robes and had abnormally broad shoulders for a lady.

"Sirius," Walburga said, looking up at her eldest son while Regulus cordially shook hands with their guests. "Come and say hello."

Sirius leaned against the railing, quite comfortable where he was. "Who _are_ you people?"

Bellatrix scowled and Walburga burst out in a cackle, tossing her hands in the air as she tried to cover for her son. "Oh, the sense of humor on that one is something else, I tell you. Would you like some tea?"

"Yes, please," Cygnus said.

Walburga gathered up her dress and led the way into the parlor. Bellatrix followed, her hand still linked to the large man's who seemed incapable of speech. She made a face at Sirius on the stair as she walked by, followed by Druella and Andromeda, who offered a genuine smile, and lastly, by Narcissa and her lady friend. Sirius had to avert his eyes when the two strolled past lest he suffer another outburst at the odd sight of them. But as he was staring at his shoes, something occurred to him. If both of his cousins were preoccupied with… partners… then they would have less time to pay attention to him.

Hopping down the rest of the stairs, Sirius followed the group into the parlor but slowed his step as he neared the doorway. Narcissa and her lady friend were conversing.

"Isn't it quaint?" Narcissa asked.

"Indeed," the alleged woman answered in a smooth, deep voice that made Sirius freeze. That was no woman's voice.

"I've always admired what they've done with the furniture," Narcissa was saying. "We could try something similar."

"The mounted house elf heads I could live without," replied the man-voice.

Sirius crept up to the doorway and peered around the paneling with his good eye that wasn't curtained by hair. What he saw made him suck in a startled gasp and yank himself out of the room, pressing his back flat against the outer wall. That was no manly woman. It was Lucius Malfoy. Who sort of was a manly woman or a womanly man, but at any rate, he was far more dangerous than any shman. He had been a Prefect since Sirius' first year at Hogwarts and Sirius saw firsthand the damage Lucius could cause. He once witnessed him accio James' glasses, causing him to smack into a pillar as a means of teaching him not to run in the hallways.

"Sirius?" Walburga called from the kitchen. Sirius darted past the doorway to the parlor, hoping no one saw him, then crept past the closet, where Kreacher was still grunting and cursing as he tried to hang up their coats. Walburga was using her wand to pour tea and had several cups and saucers already filled, arranged on a tray. "Take these to our guests, please."

Sirius arched a brow. "Isn't that Kreacher's job?"

"He's preoccupied at the moment," Walburga muttered as Kreacher shouted an obscenity.

Sirius sighed and grabbed the tray, balancing it as best he could. "Mum, who are those people?"

"They're your cousins, you simpleton. Must I remind you of that every time they call?"

"Not them – the boys with them."

"They're their marriage prospects. Something I doubt you'll ever have." She opened a flask of firewhiskey.

"Yeah 'cuz I'm not in a rush to marry a man."

Walburga poured some firewhiskey into her tea. "You know what I mean. You're ugly and slow and a Gryffindor." She hiccoughed and Sirius knew she'd already been drinking that morning. She was always ruder when she forced herself to not drink as much as she liked because company was around. Narrowing his eyes at his mother, Sirius walked out of the room with the tray.

Trying his best to hold it steady, he bit his lip as he slowly walked towards the parlor.

The door to the closet flew open and Kreacher tumbled out, dusting off his hands. "And stay in there you sons of – " he smacked into Sirius' legs, making him stumble.

Some of the tea sloshed out of the cups. "Kreacher!"

"What the hell? Where'd you come from?" the elf growled up at him in a slight Bronx accent.

"The kitchen."

"Outta my way," Kreacher shouldered past him and marched off to find his mistress.

Sirius wanted to stick his foot out to trip the elf but worried he'd spill even more. Once in the parlor, he carefully set the tray down on the coffee table. Bellatrix took one look and snorted at the spilled tea. Though she wouldn't let it show, it reminded her of an incident she would rather forget, but more on that later

Sirius ignored her and sat down, letting himself sink as low in the armchair as possible, wishing he were at James' house instead. Try as he might to fight off their echo, his mother's words still stung, making him feel unworthy of even being in the room with his family. The others were chatting about what they had planned for the remainder of their holiday when Walburga entered, followed by Kreacher who was lugging a sack full of Christmas presents.

Sirius and Regulus exchanged a shocked look. They had never seen so many gifts in their lives, least of all nicely decorated ones. Their mother made an effort for their cousins but not for her sons?

"Oh, Merlin," Cygnus chuckled. "Walburga, really, you shouldn't have."

Walburga smiled and took a sip of her spiked tea. "Really, Cygnus, it is my joy to give to such deserving young ladies."

Bellatrix and Narcissa exchanged a smile. Sirius thought he saw Regulus fold his arms over his chest and sink lower into his seat on the sofa beside Andromeda. Kreacher grunted as he shuffled around, passing out the gifts, however, since the elf couldn't read, he just randomly handed the packages out and the others had to peer at the labels and swap.

"Go on, then, open them!" Walburga said once they were all in the correct hands.

Bellatrix and Narcissa each received spectacularly beaded gowns, Cygnus a new flask with the family crest since he had the same habit as his sister, and Druella received a bejeweled clutch purse. Andromeda forced a smile at her gift of a pair of black socks with the family crest on the ankle and worn out toes, as if they'd already been in use for years. It was no secret that she wasn't regarded with as much esteem as her sisters.

"And don't think I've forgotten you two," Walburga said with a wink as she tossed Lucius and Rodolphus two small packages. Both contained sterling silver pocket watches with their respective family crests.

"Mrs. Black, you shouldn't have," Lucius said with a chuckle, handing his timepiece to Narcissa to inspect.

"It's just in me to give," Walburga gushed. "I simply adore making others happy."

"Yeah, yeah," Kreacher enthused. "Making others happy."

"Is it just me," Lucius whispered to Narcissa, "or does Kreacher sound rather… American?"

"It's the funniest thing," Walburga said with a chuckle. "But he is absolutely hooked on American soap operas." This was only partially true. While he enjoyed the occasional soap opera, he was addicted to _Jersey Shore_.

"Ah," Lucius said, arching a brow.

"Alright now," Cygnus boomed, pulling out two identical boxes and handing them to both Regulus and Sirius. "Enough chit chat. Happy Christmas, boys."

"Thanks!" Sirius said before racing Regulus to see who would open their box first. Sirius blinked at what was inside. It was a toenail clipper with the family crest on it. The idea of his uncle thinking about his toenails made Sirius feel awkward but he forced a smile anyway. "Thank you, uncle."

"You're most welcome," Cygnus said with a smile, exchanging a pleased look with Druella as Regulus also thanked them. Sirius glanced at his brother and frowned when he realized that Regulus' gift wasn't toenail clippers at all, but rather a pocket knife.

Bellatrix and her sisters had all chipped in to buy each of the boys a joint gift. They gave Regulus a practice Quidditch set then handed Sirius a large box. "And here's for the widdle one," Bellatrix nearly cooed, as if she were speaking to a baby. Sirius tried to smile but it turned out more like a sneer. His cousins, in particular Narcissa and Bellatrix, had a habit of treating him as if he were perpetually five, even though they seemed to have no issue with Regulus being thirteen.

Sirius opened his gift to find a small Christmas tree, complete with dinosaur ornaments. "It's for your room," Andromeda said with a smile.

Sirius pulled the tree out of the box and this time, his grin was real. "Wow, thanks!" The dinosaur ornaments were moving about, as if they were alive, and appeared to be made by the same company that manufactured Needle and Band-Aid and the others of his collection. "This is amazing."

"I knew my widdle baby cousin would like it," Bellatrix crooned, ruffling Sirius hair which sent shivers down his spine. His cousins' thoughtfulness and the attention they were paying him was making him uncomfortable so he tucked the tree back into its box.

"Lunch, anyone?" Walburga asked, and Sirius could smell the firewhiskey even from where he sat.

While everyone else was eating, Sirius headed upstairs and set up his tree on his dresser. It looked quite nice. In fact, Sirius thought it was rather beautiful and was again touched that his cousins would think of such a gift. Maybe dating someone was turning them into nicer people. Maybe Bellatrix felt guilty for having nearly killed him on the ice a year ago. Hopeful that this was the dawn of a new era, Sirius hopped back down the stairs, grabbed a sandwich triangle, and headed outside to check out Regulus' Quidditch set. As he exited the kitchen, he overheard a snippet of his uncle and mother's conversation.

"And where is Orion now?"

"Saskatchewan," Walburga replied with a hiccough.

Regulus had Kreacher assembling the goal hoops, or rather, trying to assemble the goal hoops. The house elf was grunting and reaching up high over his head, trying to attach a plastic loop to a stand. Sirius could've done it easily enough but decided to hang back and eat his piece of sandwich, watching Kreacher struggle before finishing the job for him. Once the set was complete, Regulus tossed Sirius a practice broom and the two began a round of one-on-one. Unfortunately, the brooms were cheap and didn't fly very high, or fast. Sirius abandoned his within fifteen minutes, for he was faster against Regulus on foot.

Blocking the Quaffle from the little hoops was easy enough, and once it became clear to Regulus that he would lose, he began to wear a sour look on his face. Sirius knew the look well. It foretold of a temper tantrum in which his brother whined like the baby his cousins thought _he_ was. The last thing Sirius wanted to deal with right now was a sore loser, so he tossed the Quaffle to Regulus. "Here, Reg. Have a go on your own, if you like."

Regulus gave Sirius a suspicious look but Sirius ignored him and headed back inside. By the sounds of it, everyone was in the parlor, laughing and eating a casual lunch. Since no one was in the kitchen to supervise him, Sirius grabbed a plate and loaded it with Christmas cookies. A frosted tree, a sprinkled Santa, a chocolate-covered ornament, and several others that looked tasty. After pouring himself a glass of eggnog to wash it all down, he started to settle in at the empty kitchen table then realized he was being rude. The polite thing to do would be to take a seat with his visiting relations.

Balancing his plate and holding his glass, Sirius headed into the parlor where his guests were seated around the coffee table, laughing at some story Walburga was telling. Sirius scanned the room. The only empty seat was the cushion on the couch by Andromeda that Regulus had occupied earlier. Andromeda was nice enough, so Sirius carefully made his way over and sat down. Both of his older cousins were each sitting beside their suitors and Sirius was happy that they were preoccupied.

Andromeda smiled at Sirius as he sat down and set his plate of cookies on the table. Then he realized with horror that his mother was telling the story about how he had escaped from the bath when he was two-years old and had marched down the street naked. She had found him a quarter of a mile away, holding a stick as a staff, claiming he was Gandalf. After that, she had severely limited his exposure to muggle media and started researching the horrid "Anti-muggle" serum the Squib con artist had sold.

Everyone in the room laughed at the story. Lucius looked near tears and Sirius sneered at him.

"Oh, children will be children," Druella chuckled.

"Indeed, I am reminded of a time when young Andromeda here pretended she was a cat for a week straight," Cygnus said with a laugh.

"Or how about when little Bella stole Sirius from his cradle and tried to take care of him like one of her dollies?" Walburga added. The room erupted into laughter again. Sirius had never heard this story and shot a look to Bellatrix, who merely smirked. He furrowed his brow. Did her cradle-robbery have something to do with why she always talked to him like he was a baby?

Sirius was only partially correct. Bellatrix did indeed have misplaced maternal instincts surrounding her cousin. She was eight when he was born and had found him so irresistible as a baby, and later as a toddler, that she treated him like one of her stuffed animals and always carried him about and set him up at her pretend tea parties. Sirius was an unusually complacent baby. He allowed anyone, anywhere to hold him and hardly ever cried. He made up for all that not crying by saving his drama for later in life, but even as a baby, it was clear that he trusted far too easily. His naiveté made Bellatrix want to protect him. Unfortunately, her ability to express her affection faltered when her cousin began to grow out of his chubby legs and show some personality.

This became shockingly clear when she had attempted to trap him in one of her pretend highchairs when his family was visiting when he was two and a half. Not only did he struggle to escape the high chair the whole time, but once he was out, he fell over with the chair. Instead of crying, which Bellatrix hoped he would do so she could comfort him, he got right back up and marched over to the tea set and other stuffies. After half-drinking, half-dousing his shirt with a mini cup of tea, it was as if King Kong attacked New York.

Feet were stomping, growls resounded, and Bellatrix watched in horror as baby Sirius destroyed her tea party. He threw her unsuspecting stuffed animal guests in the air, spilled all the tea, stomped on the cookies then tossed about the crumbs, ate a stray chocolate chip, and then bit her stuffed rabbit on the neck, as if he were a dog. After giving it a good death shake, he let the rabbit fall and waddled off. To this day, her stuffed bunny had matted fur and an ancient chocolate stain on its throat.

Bellatrix had never forgiven Sirius for growing up. Sure, she had Regulus, but it wasn't the same. Sirius was hers, and in her mind, he had betrayed her. She'd been struggling to understand and deal with her feelings towards her cousin ever since the Tea Party Incident. Mostly, her confusion came out in aggression. If she had to be the one to hurt Sirius just so she could comfort him later, then so be it. Though ever since last year and the ice, he hadn't let her get close enough to touch him.

Looking at her cousin now, she realized that under his mop of hair he still had baby fat on his cheeks. She was overcome by the desire to pinch and kiss them, and since she couldn't, she did the next best thing. She glared and swiped his plate of Christmas cookies and started eating them in front of him. Sirius' lips parted in shock and Bellatrix merely smirked then offered some to Rodolphus, who shoved a whole cookie in his mouth at once.

Sirius did his best not to cause a scene and pout. He was sick of his cousin tormenting him. Sick of having no line of defense. When lunch was over and everyone got up to go watch Regulus practice with his new Quidditch set and look at Narcissa's engagement ring, Bellatrix remained behind to extract her black, furry muffler from the closet where Kreacher had stashed it.

Sirius had no interest in watching his brother float about a foot or two off the ground and hear every clap as he kept "almost" scoring. Regulus had an ego on him, though Sirius couldn't blame him. His mother praised him for just about everything. Once she had applauded him when he had eaten a cupcake and handed her the wrapper to throw away, as if eating a treat was some enormous feat. Regulus had developed this annoying habit of saying, "Mummy, look what I can do!" then running about the parlor, climbing on couches and jumping off while she cheered and applauded. Stuff that was so pathetic that Sirius couldn't understand why his thirteen-year-old brother thought he was so talented.

Once she had her muffler, Bellatrix looked back at Sirius, who was slumped on the couch, playing with the tip of his tie with the family crest on it. "Aren't you going outside?" she asked.

Sirius didn't even spare her a glance and shook his head no.

Bellatrix sauntered into the room, and at the sound of her heeled footfalls, Sirius looked up at her through his bangs. "Do you like Rodolphus?"

Sirius shrugged.

"You must have an opinion of him."

"Well, he doesn't talk much, does he?"

"No, thank Merlin." Bellatrix sighed.

Sirius was thrown off by his cousin's chatty demeanor and cast her a suspicious look. Then she slowly smiled the old smile that he knew well. The smile that meant he was about to feel pain. Little did he know that his cousin was actually overwhelmed with affection during these violent outbursts. Bellatrix lunged for him and Sirius shrieked, darting out of the room. She caught him by the arm as he flew past her and Sirius shrieked all the louder as he felt her iron grip on his wrist. "Let go!"

Bellatrix laughed. Though she was short, her cousin was still shorter and she knew she could outwrestle him. She just didn't know what she wanted once she had him. It had something to do with happiness and hugging, but such emotions were so rarely expressed in her household that she didn't understand them. And her cousins' shrieking was ruining everything, so she did the one thing she could think of to shut him up. She slapped him.

Sirius' cheek stung where his cousin had struck him and he quieted immediately. Bellatrix let him go and clasped her hands over her mouth, her dark eyes wide, as if shocked by what she'd just done. Sirius stared at her, his brow furrowed in utter confusion.

"I'm sorry!" Bellatrix shouted.

Sirius continued to stare at her, unable to move. She'd just slapped him then apologized. She was even weirder than his mother. In fact, she was on par with Large Marge. He'd always known his cousin as a bully, but she'd never hit him before. She usually let other things do the hurting, like freezing water. Girls were crazy. Full on, raging nutters.

Turning on his heel to run outside, Bellatrix caught him again. Sirius screamed then began to squirm frantically when she clamped a hand over his mouth to shut him up. "I said I'm sorry," she hissed in his ear. "You can't tell on me. I'm almost nineteen! I'll look like an immature brat!" Sirius stopped struggling for a moment. He'd forgotten that his cousin was not only old for her year, but that she'd also been forced to repeat year 7 after she failed her O.W.L.S.s last spring, which was why she and Narcissa were graduating together.

"But you are an immature brat," Sirius tried to say beneath her hand. When she didn't let go and his nose was being smashed, he started licking her hand.

Bellatrix squeaked and yanked her hand away, wiping it off on her dress. Sirius yanked out of her grasp. The urge to tattle tell on her was still racing through his veins, though to be fair, his cheek wasn't even hurting anymore. And nothing would change even if he did tell. In fact, he was certain his mother would just laugh at the fact that a girl struck him, and Kreacher would turn it into some sort of chant. "I promise I won't hurt you again," Bellatrix said in a rush. "It's just that, I never see you anymore and you're so… so…"

"We go to school together. What do you mean you don't see me?"

"Yes, but, I can't see you there. I have my reputation to think of."

He'd been at Hogwarts so long that he'd almost forgotten that his family wasn't normal. Normal people wouldn't care about such things. So Sirius promised himself then and there that he would never let his reputation, or that of his family, get in the way of his friendships. For the second time that day, he wished he was at James' house. James' parents had their own quirks but at least they weren't as confusing as the Blacks. Shoving past his cousin, Sirius started for his room upstairs.

Bellatrix wanted to tell him that she had his baby picture in a locket she sometimes wore hidden under her robes, that he was the closest thing she had to a brother, that she just wanted to protect him. Sirius was halfway up the stairs by the time she finally managed to speak. "Sirius?"

Sirius paused and looked down at her. "What?"

"I.. I… I hope you amount to something… even if you are ugly and unlovable."

Something sad twisted in his chest. Sirius had never been more thankful for his hair hiding his face. He'd been called ugly twice in one day. For a split second, he wanted to run and tattle on Bellatrix to Professor McGonagall. His Head of House may be strict and short-tempered in class, but she would have something to say to make him feel better. He knew it. Something like, "Some of the ugliest wizards in history have achieved the greatest things," but it would sound better than that. There was a reason he was more comfortable at school than at home, and McGonagall was part of it. Even after the Spicy Radish Incident. Though she had scared him out of his wits for nothing, she had done everything she could to help him. He knew he could count on her.

And even though she hadn't really said it, he could hear her voice in the back of his head, telling him to ignore his cousin. He could hear James', too, and Remus', who had said just days ago that he couldn't live in fear of Bellatrix his whole life. And while he couldn't really hear Peter's, he could see him nodding his agreement as he picked lent out from between his toes.

Maybe it was knowing that his friends and Head of House were with him in spirit, or maybe it was the fact that he was five feet above her head and completely out of reach, but Sirius looked Bellatrix right in the eye and said, "It takes one to know one." Bellatrix looked puzzled for a moment but Sirius didn't wait to watch her figure it out. He marched the rest of the way into his room and switched his tie out with his Gryffindor one. He smiled. That had felt good.

But then he caught sight of the Christmas tree his cousins had given him, and of how considerate they must be to have picked one out with dinosaur ornaments. Sitting on his bed, he began to feel guilty for having been rude to Bellatrix just now. He thought of shouting that he was sorry from his room, but fought the urge. That night, as everyone sat down for a formal Christmas dinner, Sirius felt even worse. Bellatrix was subdued and hardly said a word, let alone look at him. She didn't even say goodbye when her family left.

That night, Sirius fingered his dinosaur ornaments on his little tree in his room. He had just made up his mind to send Bellatrix an apology letter when the ornaments began to move. Grinning, Sirius leaned into watch as each dinosaur exhibited signs of life. Then the albertosaurus suddenly whipped its head to the side and snatched the pteranadon nearby in its jaws. Instead of the usual play-fighting, imitation blood oozed out of the flying dinosaur's body. Sirius gasped and shouted. "Stop!"

To his horror, all of the dinosaurs turned on each other. Within seconds, his beautiful little Christmas tree was a roaring, moaning bloodbath. The carnage was more than he could bear. He was in the process of smacking the tree off of his dresser when the thing burst into flames. He screamed as his sleeve caught on fire, then no sooner had he put it out but the carpet was ablaze. Sirius furiously stomped at the flames until they were extinguished and his patch of carpet by the door was a black, melted, stinking mess.

He clutched his burnt wrist to his chest, all remorse gone. Bellatrix had cursed the tree even before she'd given it to him. He didn't understand that she had hoped it would burst into flames while she was over so that she could come to her cousin's rescue, but let's face it, that's so demented that it wouldn't have made much difference. As he heard Regulus open his door, asking what that stench was, Sirius resolved to stay at Hogwarts next Christmas.

**_Please share your thoughts!_**


	12. Tea With Hagrid

_**Author's Note: **__I must both apologize and thank my dear readers for sticking with me through my lack of updates! I had to take time away from this story to write a novel which I am currently sending out to agents. Wish me luck! In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this new chapter!_

_Also… for any of you on Facebook, my sister and I are working on setting up profiles for our versions of the characters if you'd like to friend them! Our plan is to have their pages match what is going on in the current chapters of _Managing Mischief_. So please feel free to visit and send a friend request to keep up with your favorite Marauders!_

_You can start by finding and adding Sirius with "his" e-mail:_ siriuz black paws at hotmail dot com _without the spaces and such, of course. Have fun!_

**Managing Mischief_  
><em>**

**12. Tea With Hagrid**

While James was always happy to return to school to see his friends, he was especially excited to see Lily Evans again after the Christmas holiday was over. Two weeks had been too long without glimpses of her red hair and green eyes. He wasn't quite sure how he'd be able to survive summer holidays, but resolved to cross that bridge when he came to it.

Sirius had a bandage on his wrist when he boarded the train at Platform 9 ¾ after James was already onboard. The shorter boy grimaced as he flexed his arm, placing his luggage in the overhead compartment.

"Here," James said, taking over for him.

"Thanks, mate," Sirius replied with a sigh.

"What happened to your wrist?"

"Christmas gift from Bellatrix." Sirius slumped into the seat beside the window. James sat down nearest the door where he could keep a casual lookout for Lily. Not that he wanted to speak to her or anything. He wasn't ready for that yet. No, he just wanted to look at her and maybe see if she'd notice him. "How was your holiday?" Sirius asked.

"Oh, um, good, yeah." James spared his friend a glance as he nodded then resumed his lookout.

Sirius eyed James with his one eye, noting the other boy's apparent distraction, then stuck his feet up on the seat across from him. "What're you doing?"

"Wha?" James asked, looking rather like a startled deer.

"You seem like you're waiting for someone."

"Me?" James shifted his weight so that he was facing Sirius instead of the door. "Nah. Just keeping an eye out for Remus is all."

"You reckon he's all right?"

James shrugged. "Why wouldn't he be?"

"You're waiting as if you don't expect him to arrive."

James stared at Sirius. They were alone. He could tell him. He could try to explain to him that he was in a love triangle with himself and Lily. That he and the redhead were destined to be together, even if he wasn't all that sure what "together" would mean. But Sirius had a slightly pouty expression on his face and looked so childish that James knew he wouldn't understand. And so the moment passed and James said nothing. Sirius parted his lips to ask another question when Remus arrived, hauling his trunk behind him.

"There you are," Sirius said with a grin.

"Yeah," James excitedly jumped in to cover for his straying thoughts. "We were worried about you, Remus, don't do that again."

Remus furrowed his brow. "I'm sorry?"

"You're so late."

"James, we still have twenty minutes." Remus glanced between the two.

"Oh, yeah, right," James stuttered before busying himself by stowing Remus' trunk for him.

Remus exchanged a confused look with Sirius who merely shrugged.

Peter was next to last on the train, which was usual, for as with everything with Peter, he didn't enjoy moving quickly. Once the boys were all back at Hogwarts and settled into their dormitory again, Sirius told the others about his strange Christmas.

James rammed his fist into his mattress. "I'm gonna kill her."

"It didn't hurt all that bad," Sirius said.

"Still, she hit you," James said through gritted teeth. "I'm gonna kill her."

Remus sighed. "She really needs some counseling."

"I know, right?" Sirius lay down on his bed and smiled up at Petra. "She's touched in the head."

"To say the least," James grumbled as he unpacked his new clothes.

"Who're we talking about?" Peter asked. He had been in the room the entire conversation but only just now began to listen. The other boys ignored him.

"Just avoid her," Remus suggested.

"Easier to do when we're at school than at home, oddly enough," Sirius murmured before blowing on Petra to make it wobble as it flew. Much to James' despair, he did not see much of Lily in the following weeks outside of class. The rest of the Marauders saw this as a happy turn of fate, for it meant that Large Marge and her crew were leaving them alone for the time being. Which was just as well for the boys somehow managed to get into enough trouble on their own.

One afternoon in Potions class, Professor Slughorn assigned a rudimentary elixir of acne control. While everyone was busy following the recipes in their textbooks, including Sirius who was partnered with James, the taller boy, in fact the tallest boy in their class, was busy following Lily with his eyes. She was working with Severus at the table in the corner of the room. James narrowed his eyes as she giggled while Severus told her some trick of the trade. The boy was uncommonly good at potions. _That's what I need to do_, James thought. _Get like, really good at something and then she'll notice me_.

"James!"

The fourth year startled and looked to Sirius, adjusting his glasses. "Wha?"

"I've only just said your name three times now."

"Oh, yeah, sorry."

"I can't tell which one's mugwort," Sirius said, leaning down to get eye-level with two jars of dried plants. "You reckon it's the one on the left?"

"Yeah, sure." James was already looking at Lily again. Severus was now laughing as well and combing his fingers through his greasy hair. Sirius opened the jar on the left that was in fact _not_ mugwort, but rather wormwort, which was highly volatile when combined with water and sulfur. Sirius plucked three leaves out of the jar and dropped them into his and James' cauldron. The mixture steamed and bubbled but the alcohol base of the potion absorbed the wormwort in stride.

Sirius smiled. While Potions would never be his favorite, he had yet to mess up the recipe, or so he thought. "This is actually kinda fun."

James slowly turned his head to look at his friend. "Really? Fun?"

Sirius shrugged. "Well you're not exactly helping much. No wonder you're bored."

"Do you reckon Snivellus is up to something?" James asked.

Sirius glanced over at their enemies across the room. "Could be."

"I think he's up to something," James said again. "He looks like he's scheming."

Sirius cocked his head. "He kinda always looks like that, mate."

"That's the problem," James muttered.

Professor Slughorn began to make his rounds through the groups of students so Sirius hastily set back to work on their assignment. When James continued to stare at Lily and Severus, Sirius smacked his arm to get his attention. James managed to bury his nose in his textbook just as Slughorn looked their way.

"Yes, yes," Slughorn murmured distractedly as he waddled past. "Very good."

Sirius grinned. It was nice to be back at school where he didn't mind doing what was expected of him. Unlike home where he was never quite sure how to please his mother, or if he even wanted to. James read the list of ingredients then began cracking open three black acorns.

"I mean, sure, Snivellus is good at Potions and all," James griped. "But how can Lily stand smelling all that greasy hair and must that's always clinging to him?"

"Dunno," Sirius said as he stirred the cauldron. Then he grinned and giggled as he spoke. "Probably because the stench of her own hair overpowers his."

James chopped the last acorn open with an unnecessary crack that caused half the classroom to look his direction. Sirius cast James a sidelong glance. "Lily doesn't smell," James said through gritted teeth.

Sirius narrowed his eyes. "How would you know?"

"Because," James said, adjusting his glasses, "I just do. She doesn't stink, all right?"

"All right." Sirius scooped up the chopped black acorns and sprinkled them into the potion. "But one of those girls does."

"Your nose is too sensitive."

"No, it's not. You can smell her coming from a mile away."

James arched a brow. "That's Large Marge."

"Oh, yeah." Sirius' gaze grew pensive. "I reckon that's what I smell on Lily. Large Marge. Cuz they hang out together all the time. It rubs off on her. Literally."

James snorted. "Still doesn't explain Snivellus' stink."

Sirius smirked then clapped as their elixir turned sea-green and frothy. "We've done it!"

James smiled, as well, then his smile slipped when he saw the picture of the elixir on the following page of his book. It was clear. "Um, Sirius…" He pointed the page out to his friend, causing Sirius' smile to fall off.

"But we did everything right!"

James held up his hand and began to tick off the ingredients on his fingers. "We got the alcohol, the aloe paste, ground urchin's spine, the mugwort, and the three black acorns?"

Sirius nodded, reading the recipe in his own book. "It doesn't make any sense."

James sighed then spotted the two jars of dried leaves that had been shoved to the edge of the table. "Hang on, where did you get those?"

Sirius followed his gaze. "From the supply closet."

"They aren't labeled."

"Yeah, but the only ingredients he lets us help ourselves to are the ones we're using for the day."

"Except that those are different," James said, grabbing the two jars.

"I know they're different, that's why I asked your opinion." Sirius stepped over to the taller boy and peered at the jars.

James rapidly flipped through his textbook to the glossary at the back. He paused on an entry titled "Wormwort." "Oh no."

"What?" Sirius peered over what he could of James' shoulder to see the page.

"This isn't mugwort, it's wormwort."

"But that's the one I used," Sirius hissed.

"Crap, um," James glanced about frantically. He spotted Slughorn across the room, chatting with Lily and Severus who was one of his favorites. "Quick. Dump it down the drain while he's busy."

"What? Why?"

"Because that stuff's dangerous. Hurry."

Sirius glanced at Slughorn then grabbed their cauldron and carefully poured the contents down the sink. By the time Slughorn wandered back over, their cauldron was full of water that they hoped looked enough like the elixir that their professor wouldn't notice. He didn't. Slughorn took one look at the clear liquid and nodded. "Well done, boys."

Sirius shot a relieved look to James as their professor shuffled off. James curtly nodded. They'd done the right thing. He just hoped none of them would ever get acne because now he didn't know how to treat it. Meanwhile, their elixir trickled down the drainpipes of Hogwarts Castle.

That afternoon, the four Marauders headed down to Hagrid's hut to visit him for tea. When he'd seen Sirius earlier in the day he'd gushed that he had something to show him. The four wondered what it could possibly be as they trooped down the hill to the edge of the woods. "I'll bet it's a dinosaur," Sirius said.

Peter snorted and Remus lightly shoved him.

"I wouldn't put it past Hagrid to get a T-Rex if they still –" James caught himself when he noticed Sirius' glare. "If they still were available on the black market," he added.

"I'll bet you I could find one if I really wanted," Sirius said, sounding rather snooty with his nose in the air. James rolled his eyes.

"Whatever it is, it'd probably be wise to stand back," Remus said with a sigh. "You know Hagrid and his love of dangerous creatures."

Peter gasped so loudly that the other three boys all stopped in their tracks to look at him. He stood stock still with his mouth agape.

"What is it?" Remus asked.

"Hagrid… what if… what…."

"Spit it out, Peter," James snapped.

"What if he wants us to visit so that he can feed us to his beast?"

The other three exchanged a look. "Beast?"

Peter nodded. "You said it yourself, Remus. He loves dangerous creatures. What if it really is a T-Rex and he's going to feed us to him?"

Before the other two could reassure Peter, Sirius had bolted. He was racing towards Hagrid's hut. "Sirius, wait!" James shouted.

"If it really is a dinosaur, I wanna see it!" Sirius yelled back over his shoulder as best he could while running.

The other three broke into a jog after him. Well, the other two, at least. Peter sort of followed at a clipped waddle. "You might get eaten, Sirius!"

"Are you kidding?" Sirius barked. "It'd be an honor to be eaten by a dinosaur!"

The jubilation in Sirius voice disturbed both Remus and James. "No, it wouldn't!" James scolded, picking up his speed to try to stop Sirius before reaching Hagrid's door. He was too late. Sirius climbed up the steps and pounded on Hagrid's door and was let in so quickly that he nearly fell over. The door was slammed shut behind him. "What the?" James began. Then Sirius screamed.

"He's being eaten!" Peter shouted.

James poured all of his energy into his legs and with a final burst of speed, ascended the stairs and burst into the hut. What he saw made him yank out his wand. Hagrid was off to the side, looking at Sirius who was on the ground, crying. A large grey shape was on top of him with huge jaws and a massive head. The creature was trying to eat his friend. James snarled and readied his wand when a hand restrained his arm.

It was Remus and the flushed boy was shaking his head at James. The taller boy was about to yank his arm away when he realized that Sirius wasn't crying, after all. He was laughing. And the beast on top of him was wagging its tail. "It's a… a…"

"Puppy!" Sirius shouted.

James just stared. That was the hugest puppy he'd ever seen.

"Boarhound," Hagrid boasted. "From a special family line, to be exact. Little feller will grow up to be just my size."

Remus looked Hagrid up and down. "_Your_ size?"

"I think he likes me," Sirius giggled.

James adjusted his glasses and put his wand away. Sirius was trying to get back up but the alleged puppy wouldn't let him. Reaching out, James yanked Sirius to his feet.

"Thanks," Sirius said, using his sleeve to wipe some of the slobber off his face.

The dog wagged his tail as Peter came huffing into the hut, flushed and sweating and leaning against the door.

"Don' leave the door open!" Hagrid snapped. "Or Fang'll bolt!"

Peter hastily shut the door.

"Hi Fang," Sirius said, scratching the boarhound's large, droopy ears. "Look, he's got big ears just like me."

No one knew what to say because no one could remember ever seeing Sirius' ears before.

"Innit he adorable?" Hagrid gushed, hooking his thumbs on his belt. "I picked him up from a feller tha' day when I took ye to the dentist." He winked at Sirius who grinned. He had thought Hagrid looked rather suspicious that day.

"Is he a secret?" Remus asked, tentatively petting Fang's head and smiling when the dog thumped his tail, which whacked Peter with each wag. There was nowhere else for the round boy to go so he had to stand there and get thumped.

"'Course not!" Hagrid laughed then turned serious. "Jus' don' tell anyone, okay?"

Remus and the others nodded. Fang barked and leapt at Sirius, both paws landing on the boy's chest, accidentally knocking him onto his back.

"Aren't you allowed to have a pet?" Remus asked. "The rest of us are."

James helped Sirius back to his feet. The smaller boy only had time to say "thanks," before he was knocked back down again.

"Eh," Hagrid shifted uncomfortably then busied himself with putting a kettle over the fire. "I have certain…. restrictions, you might say."

James helped Sirius back up. His back was starting to hurt from being knocked over twice already so this time, when Fang leaped at him, he tried to keep his balance, only to bump his head on the way down.

"What sort of restrictions?" Remus asked with a furrowed brow, climbing up into one of the over-sized chairs that lined Hagrid's table. Peter followed suit, though had a more difficult time maneuvering himself into place.

"I've got a bit of a track record, you see," Hagrid continued as he fished mugs out of the cupboards.

Sirius winced as he sat up. He glared at Fang but the puppy merely wagged his tail and looked so cute that he couldn't stay mad. Noticing the other two at the table, he tried to crawl towards them only to have Fang step on his back, pinning him to the floor. James smirked. The dog seemed to have picked its playmate.

"Once, while I was not much older than you are now, I had myself the sweetest li'l spider yeh ever did see."

Remus and James exchanged a look. Sirius was making spitting sounds as he tried to get the dog slobber off of his face.

"Name was Aragog, it was. An' he was my li'l secret. Until that Tom Riddle caught sight o' him. He tattled on me, he did. Said I'd done something I hadn't. This, that, the other. An' the next thing I knew, I was expelled." Hagrid ended in a wail, slumping over the table as the kettle began to boil.

"Expelled?" Sirius asked from the floor where he was trying to struggle out from under Fang's paws.

"An' the worst part is, I didn' get to finish raisin' up my Aragog. Now he's out there all alone in the forest."

Peter was blinking rapidly. "But… isn't Tom Riddle the same as You-Know-Who?"

Remus nodded.

"Tha's the one," Hagrid said, sniffling. He lumbered over to the fire and carefully lifted the kettle off. "He was a right bully from the start, he was."

"Still is," James muttered, taking a seat.

"He's ugly," Sirius quipped, finally able to climb to his feet. The other four all did a double-take when they looked at him. Fang had licked Sirius' hair off of his face and it was now nearly standing on end, as if in a fashion forward style, held in place by Fang's dried drool. Even his three closest friends hadn't seen both halves of his face since they were eleven.

James was filled with the rather uncomfortable sensation of wondering if it really was Sirius standing before him because he looked so… different. Remus tried not to laugh. Sirius had even more baby fat than he did and looked younger than his years. Maybe hiding under all that hair was for the best. Hagrid thought he looked rather like a girl.

Sirius narrowed his grey eyes. All three boys silently held their breath. His eyes really did work in unison like everyone else's! "What?" he asked.

"Who are you?" Peter shouted.

Remus shot Peter a glare which shut him up.

James flicked his eyes to the top of Sirius' head. "Nice hair."

Sirius scowled and climbed into the empty seat beside James. Hagrid poured the tea. "So, you've seen the Dark Lord, then?" James asked quietly.

"Of course I have," Sirius said, then glared again. The table nearly came up to his chest. He hated being short for it gave him bad memories of being a baby in a high chair. "He's come over for Sunday dinner a few times now."

Peter screamed. James shot him a warning look and the chubby boy covered his mouth with his hands. "Who is he?" he hissed to Remus, who decided to ignore him.

"Is that so?" Hagrid asked, pouring Sirius some steaming tea.

Sirius sighed. He'd hardly be able to reach the cup. Though glancing over at Remus, he could see that the shorter boy was managing by sitting on his knees, so he decided to mimic him. "Regulus loves the guy."

"Who's Regulus?" Peter whispered to Remus, who once again ignored him.

"Does he like, eat regular food?" James asked before blowing on his tea.

Sirius shrugged. "I'm usually up in my room. I don't wanna hang out with him and his idiot friends. And that stupid snake he's always bringing with him."

"Yeh might wanna use a bit more respect when talkin' about the Dark Lord," Hagrid cautioned as he sat down, shaking the hut.

Sirius shrugged. "Who cares? He doesn't even have a nose. And hardly has ears. He'll never hear us."

James and Remus stared at each other, torn between laughter and worry.

"Is that Sirius?" Peter hissed to Remus, staring at his thin friend across the table. Sirius heard and glared at Peter.

"Is he nice?" James asked.

"I can hardly understand him when he talks. He has this really nasal, hissy sort of voice. I've only spoken to him once and since I couldn't make out what he was saying, I just nodded. You know, like you do when someone's foreign or mentally retarded."

James snorted into his tea and Remus nearly dropped his. Several seconds passed then Peter laughed, and his timing was so off that the other four broke into laughter, as well. When their tea was drunk and their goodnights said, the Marauders all headed back to the castle. Sirius hugged Fang goodbye several times and promised to come back and visit soon with a special stick for the pup.

At first, James was worried everyone in the common room was staring at them because they we caught being out after dark. But then he realized that everyone, especially the girls, were staring at Sirius' face. For his part, Sirius didn't seem to notice and sat down at his favorite spot on the bay windowsill. He tugged a piece of parchment out of his bag and started reading their current Charms assignment. All the girls were still watching him.

Judging by the looks on their faces, they were about to burst out into laughter and teasing. Sure, Sirius had a baby-ish face but it wasn't worth making fun of. He'd seen plenty of stranger-looking folks. And if anything, the innocence about his friend's features made him want to protect him all the more. Striding across the room and over to Sirius, James sat down beside him. He was ready to glare at the onlookers when he realized that several had stopped staring to hold whispered conversations.

And then it hit him. They weren't staring because they thought Sirius was funny looking. They were staring because they liked looking at him. The thought of Sirius, who could care less about girls, getting so much female attention unnerved James and the urge to protect him once again flared up. With one swift motion, James yanked Sirius' hair back into place.

"Ow!" Sirius yanked away, giving James a betrayed look. "What was that for?"

"I sort of, thought I saw something in your hair," James stuttered.

Sirius winced and scratched his head. There was a wave to the way his hair was now falling into his face but at least it was hiding half of it.

"Sorry," James muttered. He glanced about the room. It had worked. Conversations grew louder and the girls focused on their homework once more. James looked back at Sirius who was still grumpily rubbing at his sore scalp. How could he be so oblivious? And why was it that the oblivious one was getting attention from girls? It was like they _liked_ being ignored. Two fourth-years, Cecilia and Brianna, giggled and swatted at each other then glanced Sirius' way.

James' throat went dry. Girls thinking about Sirius in _that_ way just wasn't right. Not when he hadn't the foggiest what was going on. But there was something else about the situation that left a bad taste in James' mouth. "C'mon. Let's go upstairs so we can work on you-know-what," he muttered, hinting at their animagi research while tugging on Sirius' shoulder. The smaller boy packed his stuff then followed James into the dormitory.

On the way up the stairs, James realized what he was feeling. It wasn't only the urge to shelter his friend. He was slightly jealous. But once Sirius walked past him to his bed and James was reminded of how short he still was, he realized that he had nothing to be jealous of. If anything, Sirius was probably jealous of him. With a small smile, James plopped onto his bed.

Meanwhile, downstairs in the Potions classroom, Professor Slughorn was readying for bed. Too lazy to head into his chambers to retrieve his wand, he decided to light his lamp the Muggle way. He struck a match then lit the wick and smiled. Tossing the charred match into the sink, he washed it down the drain with a burst of water.

The following explosions could be heard all the way from the boy's dormitory in Gryffindor tower on the other side of the castle. Students screamed as all the sinks and toilets burst their pipes and sprayed water everywhere. James and Sirius slowly looked to each other on their parallel beds. "Ooops."

11


	13. Are You Asleep?

_**Author's Note:**__ Sirius Black's fictional Facebook page has no friend requests (except for the awkward one by a local restaurant). James now has a page, as well. If you'd like to keep up with the Marauders and join in the fun of this little AU, please feel free to add the lads! Search for Sirius (known as Siriuz) through "his" e-mail: siriuzblackpaws at hotmail dot com ._

**Managing Mischief**_  
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**13. Are You Asleep?**

The rest of the winter and following spring of fourth year were much like the first semester. There was the occasional confrontation with Large Marge and her gang, the random insults tossed back and forth with Snivellus, and the usual detentions which James and Sirius always insisted were unmerited and unjust. James received one for giggling uncontrollably in Herbology (seconds later, ants appeared in Lily Evans' pants) and Sirius received one for repeatedly referring to the Minister of Magic as a whale in History of Magic.

By the time the full moon of May rolled around, all four of the Marauders were ready for the school year to end and Remus was especially loopy. The fifteen-year old werewolf was sprawled on a couch in the common room, loosening his tie as he stared into the flames of the fire several feet from him. James and Sirius were in a corner, doing research on Transfiguration with books whose covers they had hidden behind copies of _Quidditch Weekly_. It was late but a handful of older Gryffindors were lingering before bed.

James glanced up from his book detailing the specified order of enchantments necessary to ready the human body for becoming an animagus. Both he and Sirius had already used them, but given that Sirius had had to hide a tail for the better part of yesterday, James was pretty sure they messed something up. Remus had that wild look in his eye that he only got when he was getting pre-full moon giggles. The taller boy's eyes flicked around the other students left in the common room. Evans was in the corner, finishing an assignment. Five older students were strewn about. Far too many witnesses for one of Remus' incidents.

Clearing his throat, James elbowed Sirius in an attempt to get his attention. Sirius ignored him, his face intent with concentration as he read. When nudging him again didn't work, James peered over to see what was so engrossing. His lips parted in shock. Sirius was hiding a book about dinosaurs instead of doing research. James snatched the book away from him.

"Hey!" Sirius barked.

"The big D's again?" James tugged off the _Quidditch Weekly_ cover and tossed it aside to read the cover. "A _Dino-pedia_? Really?"

Sirius grabbed the book but James wouldn't let go. "I don't expect you to understand."

"Sirius, we're supposed to be –"

A loud giggle came from the couch beside them. The two looked over to find Remus lying on his back, his head hanging over the armrest, staring at them upside-down with a manic grin.

"Um, James…" Sirius began.

"Yeah," James replied. "I know."

Remus laughed again, drawing several glances, including Lily's. "You have a big nose," Remus said, pointing at James. Sirius laughed. James glared at him and Sirius shut his mouth.

"Hey, Remus, let's go upstairs, yeah?" James let go of Sirius' Dino-pedia and got to his feet.

"No way," Remus shouted unnecessarily. "I've named the couch Mr. Potato."

Sirius laughed again and this time James smacked him. Sirius glared with his one eye then stomped on James' foot. "Sirius," James hissed.

"You started it," Sirius snarled.

James jerked his head towards Remus, who was currently trying to stuff his entire tie in his mouth. Sirius leaned on the back of the couch and peered down at him. "Yummy?"

Remus shook his head no.

James glanced furtively around. No one was paying much attention except for… Lily Evans and Cecilia Tabitha, with whom the red-head shared a dorm. Both were watching Remus with confused gazes. Well, Lily was watching Remus. James was pretty sure Cecilia was watching Sirius' butt as he leaned over the back of the couch.

A loud growl drew James' attention back to the werewolf. Sirius was trying to wrestle the tie out of Remus' mouth and the brown-haired boy was snarling and yanking back with his teeth.

"Just—let—go—of—it—or—I'll – OW!" Sirius yanked his hand back and shook it vigorously, glaring at Remus. "He bit me!"

Remus grinned without baring any teeth.

"All right, that's it," James said firmly. "Upstairs. Both of you. You're clearly over-tired." He resisted the urge to glance back at the girls to see if they appeared to accept his explanation. But then he had the urge to find out if by any remote chance Cecilia had been checking out Sirius while Lily checked out him. He flicked his eyes their way as he helped Sirius get Remus to his feet. Neither girl was looking anymore. Damn.

"Ow!" Sirius shook his other hand. "He bit me again!"

"Right," James said. "Up the stairs. Now."

Sirius grabbed onto Remus' arm and had to yank and tug his slightly shorter friend all the way up to their dormitory, which was more difficult than it seemed. Remus was stronger than he looked. James hastily gathered up their books and followed the two. Once inside, they discovered that Peter had fallen asleep while reading a comic book and eating gingersnaps. The crumbs were still clinging to his lips, a half-eaten cookie in his limp hand.

"Let's be quiet so we don't –" James began, but it was too late.

Remus broke out of Sirius' grasp and bolted for Peter. The half-eaten cookie was in Remus' mouth before the other two could even react.

"Ew, that had Peter germs, Remus!" Sirius snapped.

"Shh," James hushed him, but Peter didn't stir. When the boy was asleep, nothing much could wake him.

Remus then discovered the bag of ginger snaps and settled down on the floor to finish them. When Sirius tried to snatch the bag away, the werewolf stuck his head inside and began trying to fit as many in his mouth as possible.

"Bad Remus!" Sirius swatted at Remus' head and wrestled the bag away from him. He grinned briefly when he had possession of it, only to be knocked onto his back by Remus' frantic antics to stick his head back in. "James!"

James chuckled as he hooked Remus around the waist and hoisted him up. The boy's mouth was stuffed to the brim, decorated with crumbs, and he was growling as he kicked and squirmed. "That's enough, Remus. Time for bed."

With that, James plopped Remus onto his own bed and tossed his pajamas to him. Remus chewed the cookies left in his mouth and stared at his pajamas like they were there to hurt him. Sirius sighed and unbuttoned his shirt, heading over to his bed, as well. "I reckon Peter won't be best pleased when he finds his cookies gone."

James shrugged, changing into his pajamas as well. "He has like, four bags of them."

"Where?"

"Under his –" James cut himself off when he noticed Remus listening with a calculating eye. "Dresser at home," James finished with a lie.

Sirius had noted the same look on his friend's face and didn't ask further. Once they were each in their pajamas, they climbed into bed. Remus had finally finished chewing but had yet to even take off his chewed-up tie.

"Remus," James began, rubbing his eyes behind his glasses. "Don't you wanna get ready for bed?"

Remus whipped his head around to glare at James as if he'd just insulted his grandmother.

James furrowed his brow. "It is nearly midnight."

"Ostriches can't fly," Remus hissed. "So why would they even be considered birds?"

"It's interesting you should mention that," Sirius said in a professorial tone that could only mean one thing. James tried not to groan. "Birds are actually the descendants of dinosaurs. Not that dinosaurs are extinct or anything. Only some of them. Birds evolved from species like archaeopteryx. In fact, it's widely believed that most bipedal dinosaurs had feathers at some point in their history. The fossil record indicates –"

"I JUST LOVE DONUTS!" Remus proclaimed loud enough for all of Gryffindor tower to hear, then promptly covered his mouth with both of his hands, his eyes wide. James and Sirius stared at him.

"Anyway," Sirius continued, "The fossil record indicates that the hollow bones of birds may have started to evolve much earlier than previously thought, which could allow for some smaller species of bipeds to have achieved flight, or at least, they were very good hoppers."

Remus was ignoring Sirius and trying to figure out how to undo his tie so that he could change into his pajamas. If his outburst hadn't stopped Sirius, nothing would. On top of it all, Peter started snoring, still asleep despite the proclamations of a madman several feet away. Though James wasn't quite sure if Remus was the madman, or if Sirius was, what with his incessant prattling about extinct animals. James groaned and covered his ears. He was in Hell.

"Which, as we all know, really means carnivorous," Sirius was still continuing, though no one was listening. "Yet it is the omnivores who I find most interesting. They're equipped with teeth to handle both hunting, shredding meat, and grinding leaves and bark, which is quite a feat if you really think about it. I mean, imagine you were twenty-five feet tall and…"

There was a knock on the door and shortly after, Professor McGonagall entered. Remus had just unbuttoned his shirt and hastily held it closed, giving his Head of House a rather startled look. Sirius merely glanced at McGonagall then continued.

"…With your nose being on top of your head instead of in the front – which one would think would indicate an aquatic lifestyle, but in fact, the brachiosaurus was indeed a land-dweller, and…"

McGonagall looked from Sirius' lecturing of his bed curtains to Remus covering himself like an old maid to James pretending he wasn't there and Peter sleeping. James appeared the sanest of the four at the moment. "Mr. Potter?" she asked, her heels clicking as she approached his bed.

"Wha?" James sat up.

Remus sucked in a shocked breath as McGonagall neared and held up a blanket to further hide himself, as if he were naked.

"What in the name of Merlin is going on here? What is all the screaming for?"

"…Which is actually why it's named brachiosaurus. _Brachi_ is Greek for arm, and _saurus_ is lizard, which is a misnomer, since dinosaurs aren't really lizards at all…"

"Uh," James adjusted his glasses and surveyed the insanity around him. "We're just, sort of…"

Remus bolted into the bathroom to change, bringing the blanket with him.

"It's, um," James struggled. "That time of the month."

"So I've noticed," McGonagall said. "Hence my cause for concern."

"He'll be fine in the morning." James waved it off.

McGonagall eyed Sirius. "And what's wrong with him?"

"A twelve foot wingspan," Sirius was saying to himself and his audience of fellow dinosaur enthusiasts that only existed in his head. "Twice that of an American Bald Eagle. And that's just a small pteranodon…"

"He gets like this whenever anyone mentions dinosaurs," James said with a sigh.

"Indeed." McGonagall furrowed her brow at Petra hanging over Sirius' bed and the way he sounded like he was reciting passages from books. She caught sight of Remus peeking out from the bathroom but he hid when he noticed her. She looked back to James. "Let me know if you require any assistance, Potter."

James nodded. "Will do, Professor."

"Goodnight, then."

"Goodnight, Professor."

Sirius didn't react to her departure and continued on his lecture. James sighed and groaned once the door shut behind her. Why did his friends all have to be so _weird_? Once the boys were alone again, Remus bolted out of the bathroom and leapt onto his bed before burrowing under the covers.

"I mean, talk about beautiful. Parasaurolophus has it all. Grace, agility, a nice silhouette…"

"Sirius," James said through gritted teeth. "You really need to shut up about now."

"Their pigmentation is magnificent, as well. Blue racings stripes with these wobbly lines running through their –"

"SIRIUS!"

Sirius merely glanced at James. "Through their midsections –"

"Sirius, shut up!"

Sirius blinked.

"Didn't you even notice that Professor McGonagall was just here?" James hissed.

"In this room?" Sirius asked, his one eye confused.

James tried not to get too excited over having possibly broken Sirius' line of thought. "Yes. Right here. Talking to me. Staring at you like you were some kind of nutter."

A giggle escaped from the blankets that were Remus.

Sirius pondered this for a moment. "I sort of recall… but it was like a dream…"

"It wasn't a dream, Sirius, it was my nightmarish reality." James sighed and took off his glasses. "Just be quiet you two and go to bed."

James didn't have to look at Sirius to know that he had a sullen expression on his face. He could hear the other boy melodramatically tugging at his covers as he changed positions. Remus was quiet. James closed his eyes. Nothing could be heard other than Peter's snoring. He was just about to fall asleep when the special phone Dumbledore gave Remus rang under his bed.

"Wha?" James sat up.

The phone rang again.

"We're under attack!" Sirius shouted. "I hear Muggle sirens! They're at one of their world wars again!"

"Shh!" James hissed. "It's not sirens, Sirius, it's –"

"Hello?" Remus had answered the phone. The other two boys fell silent. The phone only made a connection to one man: Dumbledore.

"Remus?" They could faintly hear their Headmaster on the other line.

"Yes?"

"Are you asleep?"

"No."

"All right then," Dumbledore said with a slight chuckle in his voice. "Call me when you are."

"Okay." Remus hung up and lay back down.

Sirius and James exchanged a half-confused, half-amused look in the nearly-full moon light. Did that really just happen? And why?

Remus twitched and shifted uncomfortably for a few minutes more before grabbing the phone.

"Remus," Sirius hissed. "It's nearly one in the morning, I don't think that's a –"

The phone was already ringing. Sirius bit his lip, hoping his friend wasn't disturbing the headmaster. James similarly held his breath.

"Hello?" came a groggy voice that certainly wasn't Dumbledore.

"Um, um, hello?" Remus responded.

The voice on the other end yawned. "Who is this?"

"Remus."

"Remus?"

"Remus."

Static. James mouthed "who is it?" to Sirius, who shrugged.

"Look, Remus," the soft male voice continued. "I don't know who you are but it's late."

"But who are you?" Remus asked conspiratorially.

"Johnny."

"Johnny who?"

"Johnny Depp. Look, where are you calling from?"

"England."

Though the name vaguely rang a bell to James, all of the boys were far too immersed in the Wizarding world to realize the significance of the person on the other end of the line. Why a phone that had been enchanted to only send and receive calls from Dumbledore also called Johnny Depp would never be known.

"England? I'm in France. And it's still late," Johnny said with another yawn.

"Oh," Remus said. "Sorry. I was just calling."

"For what?"

"Um, just to say hi."

"Hi, kid. Look, how did you get this number?"

Remus grew stiff and didn't know how to respond.

"Hello?"

"Yes?" Remus answered.

"How'd you get my phone number?"

"I don't know. I just picked up the phone and it happened."

There was silence on the other line. "Okay, well. Nice chatting. Why don't we both get some shut eye?"

Remus nodded. "Okay."

"Sounds like a plan. Goodnight, kid."

"Goodnight."

Remus stiffly hung up the phone. He shoved it back under his bed then slid under the covers once more. With a sigh, he got comfortable. James and Sirius were both terribly confused about what they'd just witnessed, but had seen and heard so many odd things with Remus and his pre-full moon loopiness that they no longer questioned much. There was no point.

"Sweet dreams, Remus," Sirius whispered.

"You, too."

"Yeah," James said, staring at the ceiling, wondering who the hell that was. "Night, guys."

_**Please review!**_

8


	14. Texting Tribulations

**_Author's Note:_ **_I've decided to raise the rating on this story a little bit!__ It is now T for Teen._ _Enjoy!**  
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**Managing Mischief**

**14. Texting Tribulations**

James began growing almost as soon as school let out for the summer. If he continued at his current rate, he'd reach six foot by the end of the season. He was already taller than his friends but now he was close to towering over them. In fact, his height was the first thing Sirius noticed when he came to visit for a week near the end of June.

"We're gonna have so much fun," James gushed, helping Sirius haul his things upstairs. Sirius studied the house as he held onto the railing. While he had visited James several times before, his mother had never allowed such a prolonged visit. The idea of spending a week in such a cheery house with walls painted different pastel colors instead of dark oak covered in house elf heads delighted him.

James set Sirius' trunk at the foot of the extra bed in his room.

"Go ahead and make yourself at home. We'll be having dinner shortly. Dad's just outside on the lounge chair." James didn't mention his father's OCD quirk of _always_ being outside on the lounge chair.

Sirius sat down on the bed and glanced around the brightly-lit room. "This is really nice of you, James."

"Sure." James eyed his friend. Sirius seemed… subdued. Usually the boy was borderline embarrassing him with his melodramatic ways. He wondered if he was just tired, but a part of James understood that, no matter how much he hated it, Sirius was always a little depressed after visiting home. As if he got used to repressing his emotions and actions. Come to think of it, maybe that was why he was so wild at Hogwarts. He could say what he thought and do as he pleased, within reason, without fear of being scolded by an over-bearing mother or tattled on by a snotty little brother.

Sirius hopped off the bed and opened his trunk, pulling out his pajamas and his newest model dinosaur.

James smirked at the sight. "Who's that one?"

"Cupboard."

"Cupboard?"

Sirius nodded. "Cupboard the Stegosaurus."

Sirius set Cupboard down on the nightstand and adjusted him to look life-like.

James adjusted his glasses. "Why Cupboard?"

"Because Kreacher locked me in one for three days after I came home."

"What?"

"It was an accident," Sirius assured him. "I was trying to find a galleon Reg had thrown in there and Kreacher came down the stairs, thinking it had just been left ajar, and closed it."

James just stared at his friend. "Three _days_?"

Sirius shrugged. "According to Mum. She thought I'd left on a sleepover or something. Regulus used a muffling charm so they couldn't hear my knocking." Sirius narrowed his eyes. "He thought it was funny. He's turning out to be Bellatrix junior."

"Um, yeah," James said stiffly, eyeing his friend for signs of further neglect after such a confession. "Sirius, that's really bad. You didn't eat or drink for three days? That's like… dangerous."

Sirius sighed. "They felt really bad and all…" He trailed off, nibbling on his thumbnail.

James didn't like seeing his friend so vulnerable and felt his fists balling up. He had half a mind to march over to Number Twelve Grimmauld Place and beat some sense into Sirius' drunken mother.

Sirius suddenly brightened. "But I figured something out in there. I was left with a lot of thinking time, you know." James furrowed his brow. Sirius closed the door then peered out the window to make sure no one could see. They couldn't, of course, for they were on the second story. "Watch this," he said with a grin. Then in an instant, he had transformed into a jet-black, grey-eyed dog with the endearingly goofy proportions of a pup.

James grinned hugely. "No way!" He fell onto his knees before the dog, who wagged his tail. "I can't believe you figured it out. This is awesome!"

The dog thumped his tail then leapt in a circle with a yip.

"Shh," James cast a look at the door. "Don't want Mum to hear."

When he looked back, Sirius had transformed into a person once more. "It's really cool, being a dog. I spent most of my time in the cupboard as one. It feels different, you know. Simpler. I know I'm me, but bad things don't bother me as much. And it's like, I can keep my thoughts but have dog thoughts, as well."

"Sirius, this is so cool. You have to teach me."

"Obviously, James."

So for the next hour before dinner, Sirius tried to articulate to James how he had achieved the clear, calm, and focused mental state necessary for an animagus' first transformation. James couldn't quite achieve it while he was hungry, and a part of him wondered how his ADD friend had managed to ever get his mind to quiet so much, locked in a cupboard or not.

When James' mother called them down to dinner, Sirius bounded down the stairs and plopped into his seat. James was relieved to see his friend's vivacity had already returned and with Sirius having mastered his animagus form and himself well on the way, all felt right in the world. In fact, all felt fabulous. Until Sirius got a text that night.

The two were lying in bed and Sirius was reiterating the transformation process to James when the smaller boy's phone vibrated. James sat up in bed, adjusting his glasses as he watched Sirius crawl to the foot of his bed and rummage through his trunk. "Since when do you have a phone?"

Sirius grinned. "Cool, isn't it?"

James was hurt. "I don't even have your number."

"Mate, I don't even _know_ my number."

Sirius sat down on his haunches and pressed several buttons until his text message appeared. "Who is it?" James asked.

Sirius sighed and sank down against his pillows. "It's Lily Evans."

"Wha?" James jerked up onto his knees. "Why?"

Sirius merely glanced at him with his one eye. "I dunno. She took my phone at the end of the school year and did something to it so that she could call me and stuff."

James blanched. Why had Lily given Sirius her number and not him? The two weren't even close. In fact, they were all frenemies. Why would she want to stay in touch over the summer, unless… Crap. "What's she saying?"

Sirius was quiet for a moment as he wrote her back. "She's bored. Her parents are gone on a cruise and her sister's at camp."

James swallowed hard. "She has a sister?"

Sirius nodded.

"Does she… go to Hogwarts?"

"Nah." Sirius glanced at him. "She's not like us."

"Oh." James stiffly lay back down, pulling the covers up to his chest. Sirius' phone vibrated again. "What now?"

Sirius furrowed his brow. "What does she care?"

"What? Why? What'd she say?"

"She asked what I'm wearing."

James stared like a deer in the headlights. Lily Evans was asking Sirius Black what he was wearing. Which James knew meant that she was actually interested in what he _wasn't_ wearing. Didn't it? What the hell? Sirius was still practically a little kid. He played with dinosaurs for Merlin's sake. Sure, he was okay to look at, but that sort of thing was just… wrong. Made all the more wrong given how oblivious Sirius was to it all. "Um," James cleared his throat. "Maybe you should just ignore her, Sirius." James stared at the ceiling. What he'd give to have Lily send him a text. Even if just asking what pages the homework was on.

"Ooops, I already replied." Sirius set his phone aside. "I said: _my pajamas, duh_."

James blinked repeatedly at the ceiling. This was bad. This was really bad. Like, really, really bad. The phone vibrated again. He slowly looked over to Sirius, who giggled. James felt a cold, cement-like sensation course through his body. He couldn't move. He couldn't even bring himself to find out what all the furious texting was about as Lily and Sirius wrote to each other again and again. His world was crumbling around him. All his attempts to find a way to talk to Lily had come to nothing, but Sirius hadn't even done anything and she'd fallen into his lap. It wasn't fair, damnit!

"How far away is Laurence Avenue?"

James slowly looked to Sirius, his covers pulled up to his chin. "Within walking distance… why?"

"That's where she lives."

"And…" He tried to keep his voice even. "She wants you to come over?"

"She said that since she's home alone she bored and…" he trailed off as he clicked through his messages then read one. "Wants to _show me a good time_."

"She _what_?" James bolted upright again.

"You reckon she's got candy?" Sirius asked excited. "Oh, we could have ice cream sundaes! I love those!" He hastily texted Lily back.

"Sirius!"

"What?"

"She's not talking about candy!"

Sirius' phone vibrated again and Sirius smirked. "Is too." He read the message. "I asked if she had chocolate sauce and she said, _Oh, the things I would do with that chocolate sauce and you…_ See?"

James snatched Sirius' phone from him and read the message himself. It really was there. She really had said it. Complete with a flirtatious winky face at the end. "Sirius… this is… she… I can't believe… just… UGH!" He tossed the phone back onto Sirius' bed. "She is _not_ talking about ice cream sundaes, trust me."

"I'm sure you can come over and have one, too," Sirius offered, not understanding why James was so flustered.

"No, Sirius, I'm pretty sure she just wants you," he grumbled.

"I'll ask." James blushed as he knew Sirius sent a message doing just that.

Several minutes of silence passed while James stewed in his jealousy and Sirius texted.

"She wants me to ask you something."

"What?" James snipped, refusing to look at him.

"_If we were alone in the bleachers of the Quidditch field, what would you do?_"

James slowly looked over at him. "She really said that?"

Sirius shrugged, looking like the conversation was boring him.

This was an unforeseen twist. Alone on the Quidditch bleachers? That was rather suggestive, wasn't it? Could it really be that she'd been talking to Sirius all this time in a roundabout way to get to him? Yeah, that was it, wasn't it? Sirius was her in. James smirked. "I'd tell her to take off my shirt," he said before he even realized that he was voicing his thoughts. Sirius was punching in letters and hitting "send" before James could mutter, "Wait, don't send that!"

"But you just said to!"

James snatched the phone from Sirius and groaned when he saw a checkmark appear by the message. "Sirius…."

"I'm tired," Sirius griped, snuggling under his covers. "Tell her to go to bed."

James blushed at the thought of Lily and a bed and felt power course through him as he realized that the small device he held in his hands directly linked him to the red-head. He nearly dropped the phone when it vibrated. He read the text. _Oh really?_ Lily had written. _Then I'd stare at your muscles for five minutes then say, "take me now!"_

James let out an involuntary squeak that was somewhere between a whine and laughter. "Yeah…." He adjusted his glasses but was almost frozen in anticipation. He'd never expected something like this. How could his night have gone in such a 180 unless… unless Lily still thought she was talking to Sirius. But Sirius didn't have any muscles to speak of. He was still built like a, well, younger boy. James on the other hand, was tall and… thin. He didn't have any muscles, either. Something wasn't adding up. He slowly looked to Sirius. "Are you sure this is her number?"

Sirius shrugged. "No. She's the one who put it in."

James blanched. He hastily typed _who is this?_ then hit send.

Meanwhile, in Lily's room, the red-head stepped out of the bathroom, her hair done up in a towel, to find Severus lounging on her bed, hastily tossing her phone away from him with a suspiciously innocent expression. She narrowed her eyes as she let her hair down. Severus had come over to watch a movie and was meant to be picking one out while Lily was in the shower. "Sev… what're you doing?"

He shrugged. "Nothing."

Lily studied him for a few more moments. Her phone vibrated again and she picked it up, seeing a text from Sirius Black that read "who is this?"

Her eyes darted to the pale boy fidgeting with his sleeves. "Sev! What're you doing texting Sirius?"

Severus shrugged. "I dunno. I was bored."

"But he thinks you're me! What did you say to him?"

Try as he might, Severus couldn't suppress his smile. "Nothing, really."

Lily hastily scrolled through the messages, her eyes widening as she skimmed the contents. "Sev! You _idiot_!"

Severus chuckled. "What? It was just a joke."

"This isn't funny! He thinks I said all those things. _James_ thinks I said all those things!"

"I know, that's what makes it funny." Severus barely had time to leap off her bed before she chucked her phone at him. He made a beeline for the door. "Let's watch a movie another night, shall we?" And with that, he ducked out of the room and bolted downstairs.

Lily glared at the door after him. "Brat!" Sighing she sat down on her bed and assessed the damaged. By the time she sorted out what to say to try to explain herself, James had started sweating over the lack of response. Sirius, on the other hand, had fallen asleep.

James gasped as the phone suddenly vibrated again. _OMG_, the message read. _So sorry, that was Severus, NOT me. I was in the shower and had NO idea. OMG._

James furrowed his brow. What was Severus doing over at Lily's house. Alone. At half-past eleven? _I'll bet_, James wrote back.

_No, really, I didn't say that stuff! He thought he was being funny!_ she texted in response.

James sighed_. How do I know you're not still him?_ He sent.

Lily stared at her phone. She'd fallen into the bad habit of staying up into the wee hours of the morning, doing nothing much but listening to music, so she wasn't tired. Certainly not at all after what had just happened. The Potter house was only a few blocks away. She could be there to defend her honor and dignity in person within a few minutes. And so, she changed into jeans and a tank top and set out to do just that.

_**Please review! I would love to hear your thoughts!  
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	15. Bessst Night Everrrrr!

**Managing Mischief**

**15. Bessst Night Everrrrr! **

James Reynold Potter had never been more surprised to see someone in his life as he was when Lily Evans yanked open his bedroom window and grunted as she crawled in. He sat upright in his bed, his covers held against his chest, staring in shock, wondering if he was dreaming. "Wha?" he hissed. "_Lily_?"

"James," she said matter-of-factly, straightening and closing the window a ways behind her. "Sorry for inviting myself but I couldn't very well have you and Sirius thinking that _I_ sent those messages." She strode over to his bed and James hastily got to his feet. They both looked at Sirius, who was sound asleep, sprawled on his stomach. Why was it that this summer had been boring then the second Sirius showed up, stuff started happening? It was like the boy gave off this catalyst energy. "Maybe I should go," she whispered.

"No, it's all right," James said in a hushed voice, his heart racing and his mind moving so quickly that he couldn't think. It was like his brain had been taken hostage by a warm tornado.

"Severus was over to watch a movie and then…" She sighed. "Well, you know what he got up to instead. He thought he was hilarious."

"Yeah," James said with understanding that he didn't truly feel as he adjusted his glasses. "I had a laugh. I mean, I could tell it wasn't you. I was just, you know, playing along."

Lily nodded, biting her lip as she sat down on Sirius' trunk. "Looks like he brought a lot of stuff."

James nodded, slipping his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants. "Yeah. He'll be here for a bit. More than a bit, if I can help it, actually. His family's a bunch of nutters."

"Really?"

"Yeah." James sat down on the bed, diagonal to Lily. He was starting to sweat but try as he might, he couldn't calm down his nerves. What was wrong with him? "His mum's sort of like… psycho."

"A lot of purebloods seem to be," Lily said with a sigh. "So what have you two been up to?"

James shrugged. "Nothing much yet. He only just got here. His mum had him locked in a cupboard for a few days." James winced. Lily stared at him in shock. He hadn't meant to share something Sirius had told him in private but it just sort of, came out. Whenever he was around Lily, he had trouble filtering his tongue.

"What?" Lily asked, shocked.

"It was a joke his brother played. He like, locked him up for a few days until their mum found him. I dunno, it's weird. I don't like him living there."

"James, that's abuse."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I don't really think he sees it that way though. He sort of like, tries to look at the best possible side of things to avoid getting his feelings hurt, you know? Like, he thinks that he was locked in the cupboard for days as a joke gone wrong rather than his brother, well, being an asshole."

Lily studied James for several seconds. Not only was she surprised by Sirius' home life, but by the depth of understanding James had just expressed in describing his friend. And here she'd thought he was just an entitled snob with a penchant for causing trouble. "That's… admirable."

James nodded, watching Sirius twitch in his sleep. He furrowed his brow. Now that he thought about it, Sirius slept rather like a dog.

"Well," Lily said with a sigh, rising. "I'm hungry. I should get on home."

"We could go out," James offered before he even knew what he was saying.

"But it's midnight."

"There's a diner just down the street." It was like he was possessed. He couldn't stop the words from coming out. His parents would ground him if they caught him sneaking out in the middle of the night but the thought of sharing that thrill with Lily was far too tempting. "We could get some breakfast or something."

Lily studied James, calculating the risk of sharing a meal with a frenemy. "All right."

James grinned. "Sweet. Hang on." He yanked on his sweatshirt and pulled on his tennis shoes. He was sneaking out. With Lily. To eat. Like a date or something. Just the two of them.

"Let's wake Sirius," Lily whispered.

Er, the three of them. James tried not to feel disappointed. But the thought of leaving his friend behind, alone, after he'd been locked in a cupboard for days, made him feel terribly guilty. "Hey, Sirius," James hissed, shaking the smaller boy's shoulder. "Wake up."

Sirius groaned and stirred but didn't wake.

"There's a T-rex outside," James said in his normal speaking voice.

Sirius immediately bolted up. "What? Where?" He spotted Lily's shadowy form and actually barked in surprise, jumping a few inches. James hastily covered his mouth with his hand, both to keep him from waking his parents and to keep him from letting more dog-like behavior slip in front of Lily. Once he calmed, James released him. "Hi, Lily," Sirius said quietly.

Lily smiled apologetically and gave a little wave.

"We're gonna go out to eat. Wanna come?" James asked.

Sirius rubbed his eyes. "Sure. Are we allowed?"

"Probably not," James whispered.

"I don't want you to get in trouble," Lily said. "Maybe I should just go home."

"Nah," James waved it off, tossing Sirius an old sweatshirt of his to wear. When it came to street clothes, Sirius didn't have many. While his mother bought Regulus just about anything he asked for, she only purchased the bare school essentials for her Gryffindor son. Sirius tugged the black sweatshirt on over his T-shirt and pajama pants and tugged on his shoes. As an afterthought, James tossed him a beanie as well, knowing that Sirius would claim the moderate night was cold. Pulling on the beanie that flattened his hair into his face even more, he got to his feet, ready to go.

The three tip-toed downstairs and out the front door. James left a note for his parents just in case they awoke and found him and Sirius missing. There had been some Death Eater activity lately, though nowhere nearby, but he didn't want his parents to worry. Once outside, the three walked in awkward silence. James kept catching himself nodding as the coolness of his situation struck him anew. He was with Lily outside of school in the middle of the night. _Awesome_.

Sirius yawned. "So what're we doing again?"

"Food," James said.

"But we just ate a few hours ago."

"Yeah, well, that might be enough for you, but I need to eat a lot these days," James said. He pointed out the diner just ahead. "Here we are. They're open till 1 A.M."

Lily pushed open the door to Lenny's Diner and the three filed in. A waitress led them to an open booth and set out menus. Sirius was suddenly very awake. He'd never eaten in a Muggle establishment before and wasn't sure of the etiquette, so he watched Lily attentively. While both of James' parents were magic, the convenience of having the diner just down the street meant that he had eaten there several times before.

The diner was nearly empty so the waitress returned within minutes. "May I take your order?" she asked James.

"Yeah, um, I'd like a donut, please."

The waitress just stared. "We don't have donuts here," she said, sounding like she not only hated her job, but her life.

"Right, um, then some pancakes?"

The waitress sighed and jotted down a note on her pad before looking at Sirius. "And what can I get for baby blues here?"

Sirius had no idea the woman was referring to him and his eyes until James elbowed him. "Oh, um, same as him."

"And you, hun?"

Lily smiled, gathering up their menus. "A walnut waffle, please."

"Sure thing." The waitress gathered up their menus then headed off with one last look at Sirius. James tried not to stare. How was it that no matter where they went, Sirius attracted female attention without so much as even looking their way? Oh well, none of that mattered. Because right now James was sitting across the table from Lily. _Bessst night everrrrr_ he kept chanting in his head.

"So, you, uh, ever been here before?" he asked Lily.

"I don't think so."

"I'll be right back," Sirius announced, rising and heading for the bathroom.

James nodded, watching Sirius walk away with growing excitement. He was now alone with Lily for the first time ever. _Bessst night everrrrr_!

"I can't believe they're open so late," Lily observed, looking around.

"Yeah, neither can that waitress."

Lily smirked and James gave himself a mental pat on the back.

Meanwhile, in the bathroom, Sirius exited his stall and washed his hands beside a tall, red-headed man who kept shooting him furtive glances. Little did he know, but the man was taking in his bedraggled appearance and ill-fitting clothing and the lateness of the hour and coming to the conclusion that he was, in fact, homeless. "I beg your pardon," the man said, drying his hands. "But you look like you could use a hot meal."

Sirius eyed him through his hair. "That's what I was hoping for."

Arthur nodded. "If you don't mind my asking, where's your family?"

Sirius shrugged. "They don't really want me right now, I'm afraid. We don't exactly get along."

"So… you don't live at home?"

Sirius shook his head no. He was currently living at James', after all.

"Just as I feared," the man said, more to himself than to Sirius. "Just as I feared… well, don't trouble yourself. Tonight your dinner is my treat." He stuck out his hand. "I'm Arthur Weasley."

Sirius smiled and shook his hand. "Sirius."

"Quite. It's been my name since birth."

"No, I mean my name's Sirius."

"Oh, of course," Arthur enthused, shaking his hand all the harder, believing it to be a street nickname. The boy did look rather astute. As he led Sirius over to his table, he grinned at the opportunity to learn how homeless Muggles survived on the streets. Sirius plopped down in the seat across from him and before he knew it, Arthur was ordering him a heaping pile of pancakes, bacon, eggs, sausages, and hash browns. "So, do you have any schooling?"

Sirius nodded. "I got to a… private boarding school in the countryside."

Arthur fixed him with a keen eye. "Is that so?"

Sirius nodded.

"Do you happen to… take a train to school?"

Sirius eyed Arthur suspiciously. "Maybe."

"An… Express train?"

Sirius grinned. "You're not a Muggle at all."

"And neither are you! I must say, this is a surprise."

The two were all grins as they began discussing Hogwarts.

James and Lily stared from their booth across the room. "Isn't that Sirius?" Lily asked.

"Yeah…" James was just as perplexed as she was. Why was Sirius sitting with some old man instead of them?

"They look like they know each other."

"Maybe… but you never know with Sirius. He's a little too trusting."

Just then, the waitress arrived and set down their plates of food. Shortly after, she brought over Arthur and Sirius'. Lily covertly kept tabs on Sirius as she ate her waffles, and within five minutes, James had not only eaten the pancakes he had ordered, but those Sirius had originally ordered, as well.

"Maybe we should go introduce ourselves," Lily mused before taking a drink after having eaten her fill.

"Yeah, I don't really think Sirius knows him, though. He doesn't know much of anybody unless they're from school or… you know… purebloods in You Know Who's fan club."

Lily blanched a little.

At the other table, after being entertained by several of Sirius' free dinosaur lessons, Arthur had just invited Sirius to come and see his collection of "artifacts," as he called the various Muggle devices strewn about his workroom at home. "If you could identify several for me, I would be most indebted to you."

"Sure," Sirius said, setting aside his fork and knife.

Arthur was very proud to pay with his Muggle credit card, then headed back over to Sirius. "Shall we?"

Sirius nodded and followed Arthur outside, too distracted by his new friendship to even spare James and Lily a glance.

James and Lily stared as Sirius strolled out.

"Oh my God, James, he's leaving with him," Lily hissed. "He's going to get kidnapped!"

"Oh man," James stared ahead, suddenly feeling sick to his stomach. "I'll bet that man's a pedophile. I mean, he stalked him in the bathroom, buttered him up with a nice meal, now he's taking him off to Merlin-knows where and –"

Lily bolted from her seat and ran outside after them. James cursed under his breath, threw some Muggle money on the table, and chased her outside. He caught up with her around the block and the two crept after Arthur and Sirius. "We've got to stop them," Lily hissed. "I wish I had my wand."

"I'll tackle him if I have to," James said lowly.

They watched with growing trepidation as the red-headed man led Sirius down a dank, dark, isolated alleyway.

"Crap." James and Lily quickened their pace. They rounded the corner just in time to see the man pick up and old sneaker, take Sirius' arm, and disappear.

"That was a portkey!" Lily said, rushing into the alley. "That man was a wizard."

"Double crap!" James jogged in after her. "He could be working for You Know Who. They're whole family loves him. I'm sure they're trying to get Sirius to join in."

Lily grabbed the old sneaker's abandoned twin then snatched up James' hand, and in that instant he forgot about Sirius and the pedophile and only felt the smoothness of her palm, the chilliness of her fingers. His lips twitched in a smile. In an instant, they were sucked through time and space and spit out in a large cornfield in the countryside.

"Oh Merlin," James said, spinning in place as he took in his surroundings. "This is the kind of place where kids get murdered and no one ever finds their bodies until decades later when all that's left are their teeth."

Lily stared at James, worry etched in her face. "We're not letting that happen, James. Come on." She grabbed his hand again and took off through the cornfield, heading towards a distant light ahead. Despite James' worry and his building desire to kill the red-headed man, a small voice in his head was still chanting _bessst night everrrrr_ whenever he registered Lily's hand in his.

Arthur, who was not a pedophile, had taken Sirius to his and his wife's home, the Burrow. While Arthur got himself a glass of water, Molly Weasley tip-toed downstairs in a robe. She let out a surprised gasp at seeing a teenaged boy in the kitchen with her husband. "Arthur?"

"Molly." Arthur beamed as he held out a hand to Sirius. "This is Sirius… I'm sorry, what was your family name, son?"

"Black," Sirius responded with a small smile at Molly.

Molly stared at what she could make out of Sirius' face under all his hair. Black hair. Grey eyes. High cheekbones. A refined mouth. Everything about his appearance screamed Black. "Arthur…"

"At first I thought he was a homeless Muggle," Arthur said with a chuckle. "But after we got to talking, we revealed the truth about each other. Isn't that funny? Young Sirius here has quite the passion for dinosaurs and is going to help me identify some of the artifacts in my Muggle collection. Did you know he's in the same house as Charlie? They're only a year apart. He says he remembers our boy from school."

Molly plastered on a false smile. The boy in question was sleeping upstairs, along with their youngest, Bill, and she didn't want either of them to wake. "Arthur, a moment, please?"

"Of course." Arthur set down his water glass and winked at Sirius. "I'll be right back."

Sirius wandered around their kitchen. He'd never seen such a cluttered Wizarding home. It was quaint and cozy and he rather liked it. He was glad to have befriended Arnold. Or was it Arthur? No matter.

Molly pulled Arthur into the pantry. "Arthur Weasley – a Black, in our _home_? Whatever were you thinking?"

"I don't see what the fuss is about, dear."

"The Blacks, Arthur. _The_ Blacks."

Arthur stared for several seconds then realization dawned on him. "Oh dear, you're right… I had assumed there was another family with the same surname and –"

"You've brought him here into _our_ house while our sons are asleep upstairs. Get rid of him. Now!"

"Molly, I can't very well shoo a guest right after I've –"

"Then _I_ will." And with that, Molly bustled out of the pantry. She came upon Sirius sitting at their kitchen table. He'd taken off his beanie and brushed his hair aside so that half of his face was showing. She parted her lips to scold him and ask him to leave when she realized just how very young he was. Hardly older than Charlie. Would she want Charlie to be shooed out of an acquaintance's house, to be judged without ever saying a word all because of his family name?

Sirius was looking up at her expectantly and she suddenly felt as if she were about to kick a puppy. The thought sickened her. Besides, Arthur had said the boy was in Gryffindor. Everyone knew the Blacks ruled Slytherin house. He must be quite different from his family indeed to have been the first to break that tradition. And he was looking at her with such acceptance and trust…

Molly cleared her throat as Arthur stepped up beside her. "Mr. Black," she began.

"You can call me Sirius," the boy offered.

"Sirius, dear, can I fetch you a glass of milk? I've got some fresh cookies in the pantry."

Arthur did a double-take as Molly bustled over to the ice box.

"Thank you," Sirius said. "But no thank you. Arnold and I just had pancakes."

"It's Arthur, dear," she corrected with a smile. Even his voice was soft while all the other Blacks she knew were shrill. In fact, he looked so comfortable in his baggy Muggle clothes that she started to wonder if Arthur was right and that there was another Wizarding family with the name of Black. "What is your mother's name again?"

"Walburga."

Nope. They were one in the same. So how could Walburga Black's child be giving off such an innocent, un-tainted aura? The gossip side of her was already deducing that his father must not actually be Orion Black.

"My workroom is just through here," Arthur said with a smile. Scooting his chair back, and then back in, as Molly noticed with approval, Sirius followed Arthur. After perusing the red-haired man's many artifacts, he sat down in a chair while Arthur fiddled with a Muggle radio. "These things are so much more finicky than ours…"

Out in the cornfield, James' hand was turning sweaty in Lily's. The two had just reached the house when muffled music started playing in a shed-like appendage. They crept towards a window and peeked over the sill. Sirius appeared to be tied to a chair while the pedophile searched the airways for proper pervert music. "I'll kill him," James said with gritted teeth. He grabbed a nearby rock and stood up.

"James," Lily hissed but it was too late. James had already thrown the rock. It shattered the window just in time for him to leap through.

"Leave him alone!" James bellowed, skidding to a halt in front of Sirius.

Arthur leapt backwards, his hands flying to his chest, while Molly rushed in from the kitchen.

"Hi, James," Sirius said with a grin as Molly shrieked.

"What in the name of Merlin is going on here?"

Lily carefully climbed in the window after James.

"Who are you?" Arthur asked, snatching up a crowbar to use as a weapon. Molly tugged her wand out of her robe and aimed it at James, who looked rather menacing at the moment.

"Hey calm down," Sirius said, hopping up from the chair.

James furrowed his brow. "You're not tied up?"

"Why would I be tied up?"

Lily cleared her throat as she realized just how wrong she and James had been. "B-Because this guy's a murderer," James offered, but it sounded rather like a question.

"Arnold?" Sirius asked with a slight giggle.

"Arthur, dear," Molly corrected quietly.

"No, way, Arnold's ace. Look how cool his collection is."

"And where'd you get this collection?" James pressed. "From victims?"

Molly squinted as she studied James. "I know you. You're Reynold Potter's son, aren't you?"

James fidgeted. "Yeah. So?"

"You look rather like your father. He used to tutor me in Charms over the holidays."

"Wha?"

Lily stepped forward and held out her hand. "I'm Lily Evans."

Molly lowered her wand and shook the girl's hand. "Molly and Arthur Weasley."

"Arnold," Sirius corrected.

"That's what I meant," Molly said, then did a double-take at Sirius.

"So…" James stuck his hands into his sweatpants pockets. "You guys aren't murderers?"

"James," Sirius scolded. "These are Charlie Weasley's parents. You know him – he's a year below us."

James blinked as all the red hair around him suddenly made sense. "You're right!"

Molly shook her head. "In the kitchen with me, dears." She waved Lily and James after her while Sirius watched Arthur examine the broken window.

Arthur pointed his wand. "Reparo." The glass shards floated back together until they formed a solid pane again.

In the kitchen, Molly poured two glasses of milk and set the plate of cookies out in front of the two teenagers. "Now, why, exactly, did you two think Arthur –" She had to pause for a second to make sure she had her husband's name right. "And I were murderers?"

James busied himself by taking a sip of milk.

"You see," Lily began for them both. "We were all out at a diner when Sirius went into the loo and came out with Arthur. Arthur bought him dinner and left with him. We didn't know who he was and were worried he was… well… you know… pervy."

Molly sank into a chair opposite them. "I see."

"It's just that," James began. "Sirius can be really, like, naïve about these things. He wouldn't notice if he was being kidnapped, so I have to keep an eye out for him."

Molly nodded. "That's very honorable of you, James."

James blushed a little as Lily looked at him with the same approval that was in Molly's eyes. _Bessst night everrrrr…_ "He is my best friend," James said, his eyes on his glass of milk. "I'll always do whatever I can for him."

"I don't doubt that, James, but someone needs to have a very serious talk with him about strangers. Just as I need to have one with Arnold." That was his name, right? Then why did it feel off?

James and Lily nodded.

"I just don't really wanna say too much," James said quietly. "Because he kinda, you know, doesn't know that part of life exists."

Molly sighed. "Well that's certainly refreshing." She rose and flicked her wand, whisking their glasses into the sink. "I never thought a Black could be innocent."

"I think he just sort of like, sets up mental walls to block all that nasty stuff out. Or else he'd end up like them."

Sirius and Arthur re-entered the room, all smiles after Sirius had been able to identify one of Arthur's odd accouterments as a goose neck cleaner (it was, in fact, a footbrush). "You're very astute, James," was all Molly said in response now that puppy ears were listening. She grabbed her coat. "I'll be taking you all home, now."

Sirius' smile fell a little and he turned to face Arthur. "So long, Arnold. Thanks for everything."

"It was my pleasure. Thank _you_."

He shook Sirius' hand so heartily that Molly realized he'd already grown rather attached to the boy. "Come along then," she said, grabbing a pair of keys. "You don't mind if I take the car, do you –?" She was going to use her husband's name but it temporarily escaped her.

"Of course not." Arthur smiled with a hint of envy in his eyes.

The next thing the three teens knew, they were in a blue flying car, zooming through the air. They stopped by Lily's house to drop her off first, then despite James' protestations, headed to Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Sirius sighed as the car landed and he climbed out as Molly opened the door for him. She rested a hand on his back and approached buildings eleven and thirteen. After waiting a moment, they moved apart and revealed the Black ancestral home.

Kreacher answered their knock on the door and gazed up at Molly and Sirius with obvious disgust. "Whaddya want? It's late," he drawled in his Bronx accent.

"Could you please inform your mistress that her son is home?" Molly asked.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Kreacher said as he shuffled away from the door. Molly could feel Sirius' back growing tense beneath her hand. She was about to ask if he was all right when a man in a grey dog suit and painted on nose appeared in the doorway.

Molly stared in shock.

"May I help you?" the man-dog asked in an Australian accent.

"I'm sorry but, who are you?" Molly asked.

"I'm Wilfred," the man-dog replied before taking a drag off of a joint. "But the question is, who are you? Who is anyone, really?"

Molly pulled Sirius a step away from the door. Walburga appeared, brushing Wilfred aside, looking haggard and hung over. She glared at her firstborn. "What do you want?"

"I live here."

"You're supposed to be at Potter's house." Walburga hiccoughed and Molly could smell liquor on her breath. Who _were_ these people? Walburga narrowed her eyes at Molly. "Who're you?"

"You know," Molly said, pulling Sirius back another step. "I'd be happy to take him back to Potter's. Sorry for disturbing you."

"Hey, kid," Wilfred whispered, holding a hand out for Sirius. "C'mere, I wanna show you something."

Molly yanked Sirius out of the man-dog's reach. Walburga dismissed them with a half-hearted wave then pulled Wilfred inside and shut the door. Molly briskly walked Sirius back to the car, her hand still gripping his arm. "Just keep walking. Just keep walking," she muttered under her breath.

James turned to Sirius in the backseat. "Who was that guy?"

Sirius shrugged. "No idea, mate."

Once back at James' house, Molly walked the boys to the door. They thanked her and were about to head in when Molly rested a hand on Sirius' shoulder. "Just so you know, dear, you're always welcome at the Burrow. I think you ought to stay with James for as long as you can." She shot James a meaningful look and he nodded.

"I do, too."

"I'd love that." To Molly's surprise, Sirius hugged her goodbye before going inside with James. On the drive home, she realized just why Sirius was so different from the rest of his family. He was the only one of the inbred lot who wasn't insane.

James was sure to grab the noted he'd left for his parents and throw it away lest they'd know about his midnight escapades. Sirius quickly fell asleep after all of the excitement, but James couldn't calm his thoughts. Lily Evans had been here, in his room. She'd touched the poster of his bed. She'd climbed in his window. She'd known which house was his. She'd had dinner with him. She'd held his hand.

James closed his eyes, smiling. Lily Evans had held his hand, Sirius was safe and sound, he'd basically been called a hero by Molly Wesley. Yeah, this summer was going to be great.

_Bessst night everrrrr!_

_**Please review!**_

_** I've been getting very few (thank you PurplePrincess77!) but the more I get, the faster I write! So please do take a moment and share your thoughts!  
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	16. The Barbeque

**Managing Mischief**

**16. The Barbeque**

The boys slept in late the following morning, which James' parents didn't think much of given the fact that they were teenagers. James woke up so hyper over what had happened with Lily that he went out and started practicing Quidditch in the yard before even eating breakfast. Sirius awoke and leaned on the windowsill, looking down at James in the yard below, wondering what it must feel like to have his own personal Quidditch set to practice with whenever he wanted. It was even better than the one Regulus got for Christmas.

After James finally came in to eat breakfast, he copied Lily's number from Sirius' phone and then did his best to concentrate as Sirius once again explained the animagus transformation process. It took several hours, but James was at long last able to shove his excitement and perpetual hunger out of his mind long enough to focus. He managed to morph just before dinner.

Sirius giggled uncontrollably as James the deer stood in the middle of the room, his long legs splayed, a look of shock on his face. "I can't believe it," Sirius said, struggling to catch his breath. "A deer?"

The deer took a few tentative steps towards the floor-length mirror on the back of the door, his hooves slipping a little on the wood floor. When he saw his reflection, he let out a startled snorting sound and nearly fell over, still unused to his small feet.

"I should've known," Sirius said, moving to stand beside him. "You hold your head up high enough, that's for sure."

The deer slowly looked at him, blinking. Sirius shrugged with a smile.

"Guess it means you're… regal?"

James morphed back into a boy and gasped for breath. "That was so… _weird_."

"I know."

"You don't understand… I had… four legs…"

"And a tail."

"Yeah."

Sirius smirked then flopped onto his bed. "You'll get used to it. Don't worry, Prongs."

James narrowed his eyes. "Prongs?"

Sirius grinned. "What, you didn't see those tiny little prongs sticking out of your head? I'd hardly call them antlers."

James tried not to blush as he sat down. "Yeah, well, you have huge puppy feet."

"So?"

A corner of James' mouth lifted. "Padfoot."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Like that makes sense."

"Better than Fatfoot."

A few minutes later, the two headed down for dinner. Sirius looked at the calendar. It had already been two days. He only had five more left before he was supposed to go home. But after the glimpse he'd had of his mother's state last night, he wondered if she'd even notice if he didn't come back when he was supposed to. Regulus was off at some fancy camp in France so it was just her and Kreacher and… a man in a dog suit named Wilfred, apparently. Sirius furrowed his brow. Wilfred wasn't his father, was he? His father was away on business and had been for years, but he couldn't deny the curious coincidence of his animagus form being a dog and his mother keeping company with a man who apparently believed he was one.

James was delighted by his new ability and spent a little too much time scheming up ways that turning into a deer could be useful. When he couldn't think of many, he began entertaining strange thoughts. "Hey, Sirius, what do you think would happen if like, you ate a lot of chocolate as a dog and died, then turned into a human. Would you still be alive?"

Sirius shrugged. "Why?"

"I wonder what would happen if I ate a lot of a poisonous plants as a deer then died and transformed? I mean, we could see what death is like then come back."

Sirius grinned. "Hey, yeah, you're right."

"Whaddya say to becoming the first Wizards to cheat death?"

"That'd be wicked." Sirius grinned and the two high-fived.

While they weren't sure where to get the chocolate from, the answer came when James received a text from Lily that evening, inviting both he and Sirius to a barbeque her parents were hosting as an excuse to regale their friends with tales from their cruise. After getting permission from his parents, the following afternoon found the two boys strolling down the street, heading to Lily Evans' house for the first time.

James had taken care over his appearance and was wearing the only pair of jeans that still fit him properly, along with a red polo shirt. He'd run his hand through his hair, which had a tendency to get just to the point of curling then give up, which he didn't mind. He rather fancied the windswept look. Glancing at Sirius, he was slightly ashamed to be seen with the smaller boy. His hair was in his usual mop though rather messier than usual given that he hadn't even combed it that day. He was in a green tank top with a dark green stegosaurus decal, all topped off with a pair of James' old khaki shorts that were too big for him. They were only just held in place by a belt on the narrowest notch and he had a backpack on his back, ready to fill with any chocolate at the barbeque. In fact, he looked rather like an explorer.

James found himself hoping that Sirius started growing soon. If he didn't, he'd face a lot of torment from other students. For the first time all summer, James realized that, given his own height, he and Sirius must look like quite the pair.

After double-checking the address, James led Sirius up the driveway to a well-kept cottage on the outskirts of suburbia. He cleared his throat and knocked on the door. "I'll get it!" James heard Lily announce as bare feet plopped down the hall. She opened the door and grinned. "Hiya lads."

"Hey," James said, trying to keep his smile from overtaking his face.

"Come on in," she said, holding the door open even more. As the two shuffled in, they heard a high, nasal voice in the other room.

"Lily, where're the napkins?"

"In the pantry, Sev," Lily called before facing her new arrivals. "Sorry, we're still setting up. Make yourselves at home. My room's just upstairs if you wanna set your stuff down."

"Thanks," Sirius said then shared a look with James. They should've known Snivellus would be in attendance. Furthermore, if Lily's parents were letting her invite her friends, who else was here? James cleared his throat and the two studied the many Muggle photo portraits of Lily and her sister Petunia decorating the walls while listening for voices they recognized. When they heard none, they headed outside.

Buffet tables were set up along the rim of the patio, laden with _hors d'oeuvre_. Pockets of adult Muggles were strewn about. As Sirius and James slowly walked past them, they heard words like "finances," and "the office," "escrow," and "tax evasion," all of which made them sick to their stomachs. Even if they didn't know their definitions, they knew what they meant: boring, defeated grown-up life where the color of paint was as exciting as it got.

James tapped Sirius' shoulder and jerked his head. There, on the edge of the buffet table ahead of them, was a large glass bowl full of bite-sized chocolates. Sirius grinned and darted over and James did his best to look casual as he followed. So much for being covert. Once Sirius was at the bowl, he waited until no one was looking then poured the whole thing into his backpack. James shot him an approving smile as they returned the bowl to its place.

Just then, Lily's mother exited the house and glanced at the two with a smile that disappeared when she saw the empty chocolate bowl. "I could've sworn I filled that. No matter." The smile was back as she grabbed another bag from under the table. "Would you boys like some chocolate?"

"No, thanks," and "I'm good," were said at the same time.

"Oh please, it's no trouble. I have a dozen of these things left over from a work party," she continued, opening the bag and refilling the bowl.

James and Sirius kept pleasant expressions on their faces while they recoiled inside. _Work party_? That was as oxymoronic as it got. And to have dozens of sacks of chocolate left over was even further proof of the depravity of the adults around them. Who would attend a party with sacks of chocolate and not eat as much as possible?

"Here you are," Mrs. Evans said. "Help yourselves to as much as you like. Lord knows, I don't need it!" She winked then headed off as the doorbell rang.

Sirius and James exchanged a brief look of horror at the thought of becoming one of those people who insisted that they "didn't need" chocolate, then emptied as much of the bowl as they could into Sirius' backpack. Once the zipper finally shut, they headed upstairs to stow it away until it was time to leave.

Sirius spotted an open door and, assuming it to be Lily's room, started to walk in, only to bump into a tall, thin, angular brunette who let out a surprised sound. "Sorry," he said. Maybe he did need a haircut soon if he was walking into things.

"It's quite all right," the girl responded in a clipped tone, tugging on her dress. "I'm Petunia."

Sirius smiled and held out his hand. "Sirius. You're Lily's sister, right?"

Petunia nodded and tucked a lock of her short hair behind her ear after shaking his hand. For one of Lily's odd sort, this boy certainly was, well… Petunia couldn't quite think of the word, for she couldn't bring herself to confess any form of interest in someone from the Wizarding world.

Sirius briefly wondered if the two shared a room, but one glance inside this one and he knew he was wrong. It was spare and… pink. With white daisies on the wall. He'd never seen anything so girly. In fact, all of that pink was hurting his eyes. How could Petunia live in there without feeling like she was in the stomach of a dinosaur? Hey, maybe she was onto something…

"Lily's room is just across the hall," Petunia said.

"Thanks." Sirius adjusted his backpack and marched over. Petunia stared at him as he walked off. She'd been dreading this barbeque since she returned home from camp the same day her parents had come home from their cruise. To be fair, her parents had said she could invite friends, as well, but no one had really come to mind. No one she'd want mingling with Lily's odd sort, that is. Except for this Serious person. Something about him made Petunia feel all tingly inside and with a name like that, he must be quite no-nonsense. Petunia liked serious.

Sirius, who, of course, was oblivious to Petunia's fantasies, entered Lily's room to find it empty except for James who was staring intently at a bulletin board mostly decorated with pictures of Lily and Severus. Sirius stepped up beside James and scanned the photos. His eyes settled on one of Lily, Large Marge, and the Hufflepuff girl, all smiling with their arms around each other, posing in front of the pond. He couldn't repress a shudder. The pond. Large Marge. Her buttocks permanently imprinted on his ribs.

Hastily turning away, Sirius, shrugged off the backpack and set it on the floor. James stood nearby, staring at the white covers of Lily's bed. _This is where she sleeps_…

Sirius was glancing about at the light periwinkle walls and odds and ends that made up Lily's life. He was beginning to realize that living in such dark quarters as he did at home wasn't normal. There was a heavy footfall on the stairs, followed by Large Marge's husky voice. "I'll be right out."

The boys shared a startled glance. The enemy was heading their way in T minus five, four, three, two… Sirius shoved the backpack under Lily's bed and darted for the closet, James on his heels. Once inside they huddled atop her shoes and amidst her jackets as James closed the slatted door just in time. Large Marge thumped into the room, looking obscene in her too short shorts and spaghetti strap tank top. She set down her backpack then rummaged around until she pulled out a swimsuit.

James had to clamp a hand over Sirius' mouth to keep him from screaming as he realized what they were about to be forced to witness. James bit his own lip then pivoted his shoulders away, pulling Sirius' head into his chest to shield his friend from the horrendous sight of Large Marge changing. There was an awful lot of grunting coming from the girl as she struggled to pivot her hefty frame to and fro. Once in her swim suit and shorts, Marge tied her short hair back in pigtails. There was a knock at the door. "Are you decent?" Lily asked.

"Yeah." Marge opened the door and Lily came in.

"Here's a towel."

"Cheers."

Heavy footsteps retreated. Sirius slowly pulled away from James and peered out. They were alone. It was safe. At long last. The beast had left. Licking his lips, James slowly straightened and quietly opened the closet door. The two stiffly stepped out, rubbing their shoulders and elbows.

"I can't believe you." Lily stepped out from the bathroom where she was likewise tying up her own hair. "You're _disgusting_."

James, of course, was the first to realize her implication. "Lily, I know what it looks like, but trust me, we weren't trying to –"

"Spy on Margaret changing?" She folded her arms over her chest. "Honestly. And here I was starting to think you were all right."

James felt the color draining from his face. Lily had been warming up to him. Now he'd blown it.

"It's not like we knew she was gonna get starkers," Sirius said. "If we did, we would've taken the beating instead."

Lily narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean you didn't know?"

"Well, you see," James began, adjusting his glasses as he cleared his throat. "We were, like, just setting our stuff down in here like you said, and then we heard her coming up the stairs, and she's the enemy, you know, so we sort of… panicked."

Sirius had a sour look on his face, his hands subconsciously resting on his ribcage.

Lily sighed. "Whatever. Just get out of here. I need to change."

James tried as hard as he could to keep the smile from his face but a corner of his lips still twitched. He hastily turned away and followed Sirius out, hoping Lily hadn't seen his brief lapse in control.

Once back downstairs, the two wandered over to the tables that were now laden with sandwiches. "Excellent," James enthused, grabbing a plate. He loaded up with a wedge of every different kind. Sirius merely stuck to what he knew and grabbed a slice of peanut butter and jelly. The two then found a small group of empty chairs over by the hedge and sat down. James was halfway through his pile of sandwiches when Severus found his way over and sat beside them.

"Potter. Black," he greeted without looking at them.

"Hi Snivellus," Sirius said, swinging his feet that didn't touch the ground.

Severus glanced him over then smirked and looked away. James narrowed his eyes. "Got something to say, Snivellus?"

Severus shrugged. "Nice shirt, Black."

Sirius looked down at his Stegosaurus tank top. "So?"

"So it looks like a baby shirt."

"Does not."

"Besides," Severus said, his voice dropping and octave. "Everyone knows that dinosaurs are…. _Extinct_."

Sirius slammed his sandwich down on his plate, glaring at Severus. James was about to snap something on his friend's behalf when he noticed the hot dog on his enemy's plate. "Hey, where'd you get that?"

"Lily's dad."

"Really?" James began glancing around for a man with a grill. He spotted one over in the corner of the yard. "Sweet."

"Oh yeah," Sirius piped up, still glaring at Severus. "Shows how stupid you are. Dinosaurs are alive. They live in the Congo where no one can find them."

Severus let out a nasal chuckle. "Oh, that's rich."

"It's true. They live in the heart of the blackest jungle. Just ask the locals. They'll tell you. Mokele-mbembe has been seen all over by the natives of Likouala."

Severus laughed again. "Sounds like made up nonsense words to me."

"It's not made up – they just have a different language than us so it sounds funny. We probably sound just as funny to them."

"Do you think more hot dogs are done?" James mused.

"_You_ sound just as funny to _me_. No wonder no one likes you."

"_You're_ the one no one likes, Snivellus!" Sirius barked.

"Well, at least my family doesn't hate me," Severus said with a chuckle.

Sirius stared at Severus for a few seconds, his mouth growing tight, his grey eye stormy, then he dropped his plate and bolted off sobbing. Neither Severus nor James expected such a dramatic reaction, and it was enough to yank James out of his thoughts about hot dogs. "Asshole," he muttered to Severus.

"That was really rude, Sev," Lily said. The two boys pivoted in their chairs to find that the red-head had just walked over with a plate of salad.

"What?" Severus said defensively. "It's true."

"Just like you're ugly with a huge nose," James spat before rising to look for his friend. Severus rose with a sneer, glaring at James' back, but Lily rested a hand on his shoulder, keeping him in place.

"Ignore him. It's not true. But you shouldn't have been so mean to Sirius. He's actually quite friendly."

"Yeah right," Severus snipped, rolling his eyes.

James didn't have much luck finding Sirius, but he did in finding the hot dogs. He was biting into his third when he saw Sirius, now clad in a pair of swimming trunks, come darting out of the house and jump into the pool. Where he found the swimming trunks or had been all that time, James had no idea. But he looked well-enough. Until Large Marge exited the house as well, heading for the pool.

Sirius only just saw her coming. Though he swam furiously, trying to get to the other end of the pool, he was too late. Marge threw off her towel with a "Hey, Skinny!" then leapt in in an enormous cannon ball. The force of the splash reached Sirius and sent him flying, clear out of the pool. By sheer luck, he landed on his feet and started sprinting. When James saw him dart under the deck like a dog, he knew they were in trouble. "Where'd he go?" Marge asked, glancing about after surfacing.

"Dunno," James replied as casually as he could, then cursed under his breath.

"Skinny?" Marge called. "Hey, Skinny, come out, come out wherever you are!" She narrowed her eyes as she treaded water, looking at the porch. "Since when do you have a dog, Lily?"

"Huh?" Lily set her towel down next to Marge's, and James was so distracted by the sight of Lily in a bikini top and shorts that he forgot all about Sirius Black.

"There's a dog under you deck."

Furrowing her brow, Lily crouched to see. "I have no idea whose that is, but he looks terrified, poor thing. He isn't yours, is he, James?"

"Wha?" James blinked repeatedly. "No. I mean yeah. I mean Sirius and I saw him lurking around on our way over. Must be a stray."

"Probably smelled the food," Marge said thoughtfully then hefted herself out of the water and thumped over to the deck. "Come here, puppy," she called, clapping her hands. "I love dogs."

The black dog snarled and growled.

"He doesn't seem friendly," Lily warned.

"Just gimme a piece of hot dog and I'll lure him out," Marge said in her gravelly voice, looking up at Lily with her dripping pigtails and unibrow. Lily nodded and returned moments later with the end of a hot dog. James was starting to sweat with nerves. Sirius' dog form was getting too much attention for comfort. "Heeeere, puppy, puppy," Marge called, waving the hot dog around in front of the dog, who merely snarled. When she tried to offer it to him, he snapped and bit her hand. "Ow! Stupid mutt! Lily, call the pound to come kill him!"

"No!" James shouted.

"I better not have rabies," Marge griped, looking over her hand. Sirius' teeth hadn't even punctured her skin.

"I'm sure he doesn't," Lily soothed. "Let's go put some ice on it."

Marge got to her feet once more and James took the opportunity to crouch down by the porch as Lily led the large girl into the kitchen. "Sirius," he hissed. "You have to change back."

The dog was suddenly a soggy boy. "Yeah right. Marge is gonna kill me! You saw how she already tried to blow me up in the pool!"

"I think that was her trying to be nice," James whispered, adjusting his glasses and glancing about to make sure no one could overhear them. "Just come out before anyone gets suspicious."

"Suspicious of what?" Marge barked before grabbing James by the scruff of the neck and slamming him against the side of the house so hard that his glasses went askew. Sirius screamed. "What the heck?" Marge peered under the deck, her hand still around James' throat. "Skinny?"

"Leave him alone!" Sirius barked.

"What're you up to, Glasses?" Marge said, leaning in close to James' face. "Where'd that dog go?"

"Dunno," James gulped. "Ran off, I guess."

"Yeah? Convenient that it ran off right when it was starting to like me. I could've had a new pet."

James let out an incredulous laugh before he realized what he was doing.

Marge narrowed her eyes. "You think that's funny, Glasses? Then whaddya think of this?" She balled her fist and was about to punch James in the face when Sirius came flying out from under the deck and bit her ankle, as if he was still a dog. Marge screamed and released James, shaking her foot furiously. Sirius let go, grabbed James' hand, and the two sprinted off and hid in one of the hedges. Marge roared and tore off after them, but her beady eyes had failed to see where they went.

James and Sirius held their breath as she lumbered past, growling.

"She's like a T-rex," Sirius whispered before James hushed him.

"Mmm hmm. Mmm hmm," a man said as he stopped by the hedge, eating chips off his plate. "I told my boss the same thing. Downsizing means cutting corners, reassessing the pay scale. Not handing out pink slips like candy."

The other man he was speaking to chuckled. "Couldn't have said it better myself." They meandered off.

James and Sirius shared a look. "That was _way_ too close, Sirius."

Sirius swiped at his wet hair. "Can we go yet?"

"I think that would be wise."

After making sure the coast was clear, the two crept out of the bush. They rounded the hedge and nearly bumped into Lily. "Oh, there you are," she said with a smile, looking at Sirius. "My sister was asking where that serious boy went. I can only assume she meant you." She furrowed her brow. "Why're there sticks in your hair?"

Sirius furiously batted at them.

"Thanks for inviting us and all," James said, looking over her shoulder for any sign of Large Marge. "But I think we oughta go."

"Are you sure?"

Sirius grabbed James' shoulder as Large Marge stalked out of the house, sniffed the air, and seemed to catch their scent. Her head whipped in their direction. "Absolutely," Sirius snapped then sprinted for the street, yanking James along behind him. The tall boy only stopped to grab Sirius' clothes before darting after him.

"Glasses! Skinny!" Marge bellowed before following the two. Sirius could've sworn he could hear pavement cracking beneath her feet. The sight of her monstrous form so close to catching them made them run all the faster. They rounded a block and didn't slow until they were safely inside James' house, and even then they took the stairs two at a time and locked the door to his room. If either boy had been brave enough to look over his shoulder more than the one time, they would've seen that Marge had become winded after less than a minute and never even followed them past the first turn.

_**Thank you so much for all of your reviews! Please, please, please, keep them coming!**_


	17. Twenty Five Cents

**Managing Mischief**

**17. Twenty-Five Cents**

It was afternoon and James and Sirius were bored. There was only so much time that James could pretend he was a dinosaur with Sirius. Grabbing his phone, he decided to call Peter to see what he was up to. Peter's mother answered and after a few minutes of filling her in on his summer, she handed the phone off to Peter.

"Hello?" came a deep voice on the other line, the sounds of Halo being played on the Xbox in the background.

James furrowed his brow. "Hello?"

"Hello? Can you hear me?" came the deep, man-voice again. James blanched and looked to Sirius, who, with his keen hearing, had overheard. He shook his head in confusion. James was certain that had been Peter's mother who answered. Why then had she given the phone to some man? "Hello?" That was _not_ Peter's voice. James hung up.

"Who was that?" Sirius asked, sitting up on his knees.

"No bloody idea." James ran a hand through his hair. "That was weird."

"Try again. Maybe the phone messed up. Remus' phone accidentally called that Johnny man in France, remember?"

"Yeah." James nodded and dialed again. The phone rang for a few seconds then the sounds of video game playing echoed in the background again.

"Hello?" came the deep voice again. James and Sirius both sneered.

"Hey, is this Peter?"

"Yes. Who's this?"

James hesitated. "Peter Pettigrew?"

"Yes." The man on the other line coughed.

"Peter Pettigrew who's in Gryffindor?"

"Yeah, I'm Peter Pettigrew of Gryffindor," the man lied. Sirius shook his head. James hung up again.

"That's bloody weird," Sirius said, leaning back on his haunches to chew his nail.

"Who do you reckon that is?" James asked. Sirius shrugged. Neither boy understood that they were indeed speaking with Peter, but that his voice had changed in the months since they had last seen or heard him. The phone rang. The two stared at it warily before James answered. "Hello?"

"James?" came a deep voice.

"Yeah?"

"It's Peter. Some nutter keeps calling and hanging up. D'you reckon it's Snivellus?"

Sirius bit his lip.

"Yeah, maybe. I gotta go. Talk soon."

"Cheers."

James hung up again and both he and Sirius stared at the phone in frightened awe. So it _was_ Peter after all. What in the name of Merlin had happened to him?

They spent the rest of the day chatting with James' father, Reynold, who was lounging on his lounge chair, as always. After discussing the events of Lily's barbeque, the latest Death Eater happenings, the gossip from his job as an Auror, the difference between brands of flour, the workings of steam engines, and how wrinkles form, James was left bored out of his wits and Sirius left slightly jealous. He didn't even remember the last time he'd seen his father. While he had long suspected that his mother had made him up, he wanted to know the truth.

That night, as he and James readied for bed, Sirius' curiosity got the better of him. He grabbed his phone. "I'm calling Mum."

"Wha? Why?"

"I want to know who my father is." Sirius yanked his phone out of his trunk.

James studied Sirius for a few moments. This was the first time Sirius had ever spoken of his father other than passing remarks about how busy the man was. James had always assumed the man was a jerk, which was why he wasn't around to help raise his sons, but Sirius never seemed to share that worry. After what had happened last night, or rather, what James had _thought_ had happened but didn't really, the last thing James wanted was for his friend to get his feelings hurt.

"It's almost ten, Sirius, I think it's too late to be –"

But it was too late. Sirius already had the phone to his ear and was flicking the hair out of his face, which James knew he only did when he was nervous. To his surprise, someone picked up. He didn't think the Blacks would own something so Muggle as a phone. Little did he know, but they didn't. Kreacher did.

"Yeah?" Kreacher answered hoarsely. "What the hell do you want?"

"Kreacher, is my Mum there?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, course she is. Whaddya want?"

"I'd like to speak with her, please." Sirius studied the blanket he was sitting on while there was silence on the other end. Then he could hear Kreacher shuffling as he headed into the other room, grunting as if movement was an effort. A few muffled sentences later and Kreacher spoke again.

"She don't wanna talk to you."

"All right." Sirius sighed. "Then can you ask her something for me?"

"All right, all right, all right."

"Ask her who my father is."

James watched his friend's face intently. Sirius caught the expression and put his cell on speakerphone so that James could hear, as well.

"Mistress, the brat wants to know who his father is," Kreacher was saying.

"Tell him," Walburga could be heard slurring in the background. "His father was a twenty-five cent whore I picked up in London."

James' eyes grew wide.

"Yeah, yeah, twenty-five. Twenty-five," Kreacher mumbled into the phone. "American money, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's worth less."

Sirius furrowed his brow. James realized with a flood of relief that Sirius had no idea what a whore was. "What? Kreacher, ask her again."

"He wants to know again," Kreacher called over his shoulder.

"Tell that little brat that he's going to grow up to be an even cheaper whore than his father."

"Yeah, yeah, ten cents. Ten cents," Kreacher enthused. "You're ten cents," he said to Sirius, who looked beyond confused.

James' throat was dry. He had to end this to protect his friend's honor. "Sirius, just hang up."

"Kreacher," Sirius snarled. "Let me talk to her."

"No, no, no, ten cents," the house-elf repeated in his peculiar accent. "Five cents?"

Sirius furrowed his brow. "Ten!"

"All right, all right, all right – I'll give you fifteen. Deal?"

For a brief horrific moment, James realized that Sirius was considering the deal without even knowing what it was for. "Sirius!" He snatched the phone from his hand. "He has to go. Bye." With that, James hung up.

"James!"

"Sirius, those people are insane."

"I want to know." Sirius snatched the phone back and started dialing again.

"Sirius, _don't_."

Too late. Kreacher answered again. "All right, all right, all right, ten."

"Kreacher," Sirius began, his voice firm. "Put my mother on the phone."

"Is that my Sirius?" Walburga cooed in the background, sounding rather unlike herself.

"Yeah, the ten-cent whore. The ten-cent whore."

James winced but Sirius seemed unaffected by the new label.

"Tell my darling that Mummy can't wait for him to come home," Walburga gushed. Her affectionate tone gave James goosebumps. "The Dark Lord would just _love_ to spend some time with him. Ten cents or not."

"Jesus Christ!" James spat out the Muggle curse without even noticing and snatched the phone from Sirius, hanging up. "You're never setting foot in that house _again_."

Sirius glowered at him. "Why? What did she mean about Voldemort and – "

"Nothing," James cut him off. "Just ignore her. She's crazy. They're all crazy. You're staying here for the rest of the summer, okay?" He hoped he wasn't overacting, but better safe than sorry, anyhow. From Walburga's changed attitude, it sounded as if she'd suddenly thought of a horrible use for Sirius. While James doubted she'd ever soberly go through with something so disgustingly reprehensible as giving her firstborn over to that monster, if she was drunk enough, she just might. It wasn't his fault that he had suspected Arthur was a dangerous man last night. Sirius seemed to bring out the pervert in people as he just witnessed.

Sirius was quiet and studying his hands. James worried that he was musing over what his mother had just suggested. "You reckon I might find him in London?" he asked, and James was relieved.

"Dunno."

"I ought to go look sometime…"

"There's kinda a lot of people in London though."

Sirius bit his thumbnail. "You're right…"

Sirius' phone buzzed in James' hand. It was a text from Kreacher. Then another. And another. _All right, all right, all right_, the first read, followed by, _one cent?_ Then _No, no, five?_ And _All right, all right, all right, ten cents?_ James just stared at the phone. He wasn't sure he wanted to know if Kreacher was just trying to continue the degradation his mistress had started, or if the House Elf really was propositioning a fourteen-year-old boy. James hastily turned off the phone and tossed it back into Sirius' trunk.

Sirius sighed and adjusted Cupboard's position. "It's not fair. I ought to know who he is. You know who your dad is."

"Yeah, and all he does when he isn't on missions is sit on his lounge chair."

"At least you know what he looks like."

"You don't remember what your dad looks like?"

Sirius shrugged. "He's got black hair and is tall."

James shook his head. "Maybe we can try to find him one day, but I know for sure your mum is only gonna tell you drunken lies about him so let's just leave her out of it, okay?"

Sirius nodded. He suddenly brightened. "You know how excited Remus is gonna be now that we're both animagi?"

James grinned. Count on his friend to self-soothe by changing the subject. "Yeah. This year's gonna be great, mate. I can feel it."

Sirius returned his smile.

A few days slipped past. James texted Lily on ever one of them, asking stupid questions like _What're you up to? How're things? What's for dinner?_ Her parents were still away so she was often bored enough to answer. His heart skipped a beat whenever he'd get a response. On one such night, Lily was actually bored enough to come over again.

Sirius didn't like all this mingling with the enemy but James seemed okay with it, so he didn't protest. The three were gathered in his room when Sirius thought to check his phone. He turned it on and set it aside, and it immediately started buzzing with unread texts. James blanched. "Maybe it's broken," James lied, taking the phone from Sirius. "Lemme see."

James scrolled through the texts. Most were Kreacher continuing to ask for price breaks, but several were rather cheery from a number Sirius didn't have in his phone. _What're you up to? How're things? What's for dinner?_ Each topped off with smiley faces. James adjusted his glasses and furrowed his brow. Someone was doing to Sirius was he was doing to Lily. Then there was another. _Ten cents? Nah. Fifty!_ James blinked. Who else would know about that conversation?

Sirius also had multiple missed calls from the mystery number. Sighing, James decided it was better to just leave it be and tossed the phone back to Sirius, who was giving him a questioning look. "It's not broken," James said.

The smaller boy glanced at his phone and spotted the messages from the unknown number and wrote back, asking, _who is this?_

"I can't wait for fifth year," Lily said as she looked at James' calendar. "We're finally gonna start learning the difficult spells. I'm always so bored in Charms."

"How's Severus?" James asked, trying to sound casual. The fact that the boy had been over at Lily's the other night still nagged at the back of James' mind.

Lily shrugged and looked to him. "Fine, I guess. Why?"

James did his best to feign a look of innocence. "Just wondering. You two are in touch, right?"

"If you think I'm going to help you with some kind of prank…" Lily arched a brow.

"No! That's not what I meant," James said in a rush.

Sirius' phone vibrated and he read the text. _You know who_. Sirius narrowed his eyes. Who was being coy with him?

"You bully him enough as it is," Lily said with a sigh.

_No, I don't_, Sirius sent back.

"Bully? I wouldn't exactly call defending myself from attack bullying."

Lily gave him a dead-pan look. "Filling his mouth with soap-suds in the middle of class last month? Turning his fingernails pink? Making his nostril hair grow three times as long?"

James grinned. "That was a good one, wasn't it?"

Lily shook her head. "You don't understand him."

"Yeah, arrogant pricks are kinda like that."

Lily fixed James with a "you should know," look that made him freeze. What had he just done?

Just then, Sirius' phone began to play his _Jurassic Park_ theme music ring. "Hello?" he answered. It was the mystery number. James and Lily fell silent as they watched him.

"Hello," the other voice answered, soundly oddly muffled.

Sirius furrowed his brow. "Who is this?"

"You know who."

"No, I don't, actually."

"Your mother gave me your numberrr. I hope you don't mind." Lily narrowed her eyes at James. There was a nasal, hissing quality to the voice that certainly wasn't a classmate.

"What do you want?"

"To be friendsss, for startersss."

Sirius sighed. "How can we be friends when I don't even know your name?"

"You know who! Does Tom Riddle ring a bell?"

Sirius' face went blank. The color drained from James'. Lily grew cold. "Sirius," she whispered, terrified that the Dark Lord would hear her. "Hang up. Now."

Sirius shot Lily a "not yet" look, appearing unmoved by the revelation. "Tom?"

"Yesss?"

"I'm not comfortable speaking with you."

"Your mother mentioned that you were interesssted in… helping the caussse."

"That's not true."

James felt like all the blood was draining from his body. He was _not_ hearing this. He couldn't be. He knew from the Petra incident that Sirius was charismatic. He'd only just been musing on how he seemed to draw special female attention wherever he went. But he'd never seen it work on another male before. Least of all the Dark Lord. What the hell?

"I know your father," Voldemort continued.

Sirius brightened. "You do?"

"Yesss. I would like to be his ssspecial friend, asss well. But I have had a difficult time locating him."

"Oh." Sirius sighed. "So have I."

"Don't worry. I'll take care of you," Voldemort cooed. "What do you sssay I come over? We can have a… sssleepover."

Sirius blanched. "No thanks."

"What do you mean?" Voldemort snapped. "You can't sssay no to the Dark Lord!"

"You have a lisp! Go away!" With that, Sirius hung up.

Lily and James stared, too shocked to react for several seconds.

"Sirius…" Lily began, wanting to tell him to call the police or Aurors or some sort of law-enforcement to come protect him.

The _Jurassic Park_ theme played again.

"Don't answer that!" James shouted but Sirius ignored him.

"I said go away," Sirius barked into the phone.

"Siriussss, pleassse," Voldemort insisted. There was actually some pleading in his voice. "I only want what everyone wantsss. Is that too much to asssk?"

Sirius' voice was pointed. "Yes. I don't want to be your friend. Go away and leave me alone."

James' face contorted as he heard what he could've sworn to be a sniffle on the other end.

"You don't mean that…"

"Yes, I do. Goodbye, Tom." Sirius hung up again and tossed the phone away from him. "Creep." He folded his arms over his chest. "Teasing me with his 'you know whos.' I know who, now. And it's You Know Who who's never gonna be _my_ friend." Though it was never documented, in that moment, Voldemort's nickname of You Know Who was born. Little did the three teenagers know the euphemism was going to spread across the Wizarding world, and little did the Wizarding world know that the euphemism had its roots in Voldemort's peculiar obsession with one underage Sirius Black and a texting convo.

Lily didn't realize she was shaking until she tried to move. "Do you have any idea what you've just done?" she asked, her voice quiet.

"Oh crap," James whispered. "He's gonna kill us. All of us."

Sirius narrowed his eyes at the two. "No, he's not."

"You got him proper angry," Lily said. "He _kills_ people who make him angry."

"How could he know where we are?" Sirius asked.

"He could trace the phone call," James said, growing even paler. "He could be here within minutes."

"Oh Merlin!" Lily clamped a hand over her mouth. "James, get your parents."

He shook his head. "They're out! On a mission! They won't be back till tomorrow."

"This can't be happening," Lily whined, grabbing her head as she sank onto Sirius' trunk.

"You guys are overreacting," Sirius said, and James was shocked that the boy's voice didn't hold a hint of fear. "He's probably off crying somewhere. He's not going to find us. And if he does, I'll tell him off."

"Sirius, this is the Dark Lord we're talking about," James snapped. "He'll kill you!"

"If he kills me then he can't ever be my friend," Sirius said coolly. James was about to argue back when he realized there was a chance that Sirius was right. Voldemort obviously had some sort of demented interest in him, and if were dead, he'd have no chance of getting… James didn't finish his thought. He didn't want to.

"We can't just stay here," Lily said. "We have to call someone."

"If you really want to, we can contact Arnold, but there's nothing to worry about."

The other two teens couldn't disagree more. Arthur Weasley was at the house and in their bedroom within five minutes while James hastily explained to him what had happened. Arthur listened intently, casually shooting Sirius questioning looks, but the boy looked as if he was ignoring their hysterics as he flipped through the pages of a dinosaur book. "And how long ago was all of this?" Arthur asked at last.

"Like, ten minutes ago. Maybe fifteen," James said, fidgeting in place.

"Overreacting," Sirius taunted under his breath.

"I daresay that if You Know Who intended to kill you for your insolence, he'd be here by now. But still, there may have been air traffic…"

"Oh Merlin," Lily said, holding her hands over her mouth.

"I'll do what I can, of course." And with that, Arthur set up every protective ward that he knew before turning to Lily. "Young lady, I'll escort you home and do the same for your house, if you like," Arthur offered.

Lily was speechless. The offer was very kind but the last place she wanted to be was an empty house. James didn't miss the look on her face. "You could stay the night, if you like."

Lily stiffly nodded.

"Very well," Arthur said. He then tugged a button off of his sweater and muttered a few incantations, touching it with his wand. "If you need anything, anything at all, then just use this button," he said, handing it to Sirius. "It will take you directly to the Burrow."

"Thanks," Sirius said, eyeing the yellow plastic.

Arthur sighed and faced the other two. "Would you like me to stay the night, as well?"

James ran a hand through his hair and sighed. It had been well over a half hour and Arthur's wards had taken the edge off of his fear. Besides, this was his chance to comfort Lily. "I think we'll be all right," he said quietly. "Thanks, though."

"Certainly." Arthur readied his wand to disapparate. He looked back to Sirius. "Anything at all."

Sirius nodded. "Thanks, Arnold."

Arthur had yet to notice Sirius' perpetual calling of him by the wrong name and merely smiled before disappearing. Lily let out a shaky breath and sank onto the bed beside Sirius. "This is insane."

"Yeah," James said, shaking his head. "I didn't even know You Know Who could use a phone…"

"Can we not talk about it?" Lily asked.

"I wonder who did these paintings," Sirius mused, studying a particularly vibrant portrait of a parasaurolophus. Lily just stared at him. James had already told her his theory about why bad things had little effect on Sirius, but right now she was wondering if he was just too dense to understand the ramifications.

James busied himself by changing the sheets on his bed. "You can sleep here, if you like."

"Thank you." Lily began braiding her hair. She wasn't exactly prepared for a sleepover but she would happily sleep in her jeans rather than alone in her house. James climbed into bed next to Sirius, grateful that it was big enough for the two of them to not get in each other's way while sleeping, for as he learned during a sleepover when they were first years, Sirius not only squirmed a lot in his sleep, but also did his best to steal James' body heat.

Once all three were settled, James gave Sirius a pointed look. He sighed and closed his dinosaur book and set it aside. James turned off the lights. "Night, guys."

"Night."

"Night."

Maybe it was the very real fear that their lives could be ended at any moment, but James didn't chant _bessst night everrrrr _over Lily sleeping in his bed. Instead, he stewed about all the possible ways they could be killed before he finally succumbed to sleep.

Lily tossed and turned. The house was entirely too quiet and unfamiliar. Every creak and groan she turned into a Death Eater breaking in. When the house settled particularly loudly, she'd had enough. Without thinking enough to even be embarrassed, she slipped out of James' bed and crawled into Sirius'.

There was a gap between the smaller boy and the wall and she carefully picked her way first over James, then Sirius, to get to it. Once there, she was surprised when Sirius lifted up the covers for her. She wasn't quite sure how he could see her through all that hair in the dark, but she smiled anyway. He'd be safest between her and James, anyhow. It was squishy and warm, the thought that she was in a bed with two frenemies she didn't know all that well kept kicking around in the back of her mind, but her desire for companionship overrode any nervousness. Besides, Sirius was harmless and as she settled down beside him, she was surprised to discover that his presence actually made her feel comfortable.

James seemed to always be watching her like a hawk, and several times she wondered what he was thinking about her. Maybe it was because she could only see one eye, but Sirius seemed like a very accepting, open-minded person. Despite him being a Black, she never once felt judged around him. Not that she necessarily felt judged around James, but… the taller boy certainly always made her aware of his presence.

Such thoughts calmed her and Lily soon drifted off to sleep, her breathing falling into the rhythm of the two boys beside her. She slept deeply until she discovered firsthand why James avoided sharing a bed with Sirius at all costs. After waking up at least five times to shove one of the boy's limbs off of her, she eventually gave up. This was going to be a long night.

**_Thank you so much for your reviews thus far! They make me smile and write faster! :) Please take a minute to share your thoughts on this chapter with me!_**


	18. The Tart

_**Author's Note: **__I once again find myself apologizing for my long absence! My original work took precedence again. With any luck, I'll have good news to report soon! In the meantime, thank you kindly for continuing to read! _

_Our character's Facebook pages didn't quite take off, so instead I've made a "like" page for this story if you'd like to hunt it down. You see, my sister has edited together lots of pictures for this fic and would love to share them with you all!_

**Managing Mischief**

**18. The Tart**

When James awoke the next morning, he didn't remember the previous night's events right away. Someone was in the bed with him, that much he could tell. Sirius must've had a nightmare and invited himself over to his mattress. James yawned and opened his eyes, only to be met with the blurry sight of his own bed across the room. _Hang on, if I'm looking at my bed, then that means I'm in Sirius'… Huh?_

Rolling over to ask the other boy what had happened, James went rigid when he caught sight of blurry red hair. Red hair. _Lily! Oh thank you Merlin, Lily is in bed with me!_ His shock and delight and, quite frankly, fear, filled his veins with adrenaline. Before he could stop to think, James had leapt out of bed, memories from the previous night flooding him. His sudden flight startled Lily, who, unlike James, had no problem recalling her traumatization from the Dark Lord hours before.

Thinking something was amiss she scrambled to get to her feet, got tangled in the bedclothes, tripped, and smacked into James, knocking the two of them over. James let out a surprised cry of alarm mixed with more than a little glee as Lily Evans landed on top of him.

"James, I'm so sorry!" she said in a rush, hastily righting herself.

James smirked and reached to adjust his glasses, only to realize that they still weren't there. "S'okay."

"Oh Merlin…" Lily glanced wildly about. "Where's Sirius?"

James shot up. "Wha?"

"He was asleep between us. Where is he?"

"Oh crap." James fumbled for his glasses while Lily withdrew her wand. "Maybe he's just in the bathroom…"

"What if he was kidnapped? What if You Know Who is holding him hostage downstairs?"

With his glasses on, James could see how frightened Lily looked and felt a surge of strength course through him. He hated seeing her appear so afraid and vulnerable, just as he hated the seeing the same look on Sirius or Remus' face. If Peter had been capable of changing his expression enough to have the look, James would hate it on his face, too, but as it was, Peter was a bit of a potato. "Stay here," James whispered, grabbing his wand. "I'll go look."

Without waiting for her reply, James crept out of the room and into the hallway. You Know Who or not, he'd be damned if he'd let some bald, nose-less freak hurt his friends.

"James," Lily hissed as the tall boy pushed open the door to the bathroom and peered inside. No Sirius. Looking at Lily over his shoulder, he was about to shake his head to let her know Sirius wasn't there when he heard a man speaking downstairs. Narrowing his eyes, he and Lily shared a look before he crept to the top of the staircase. It was an adult all right, but not a voice that he recognized.

"No!" a boy shouted from the living room. "No, stop!"

That was Sirius' voice. One glance at Lily and James knew she recognized it, too. Creeping downstairs with their wands drawn, the two prepared to fire curses at the Dark Lord and his henchmen doing Merlin knows what to their friend, only to find an empty room. Empty except for the back of a head he could only just glimpse over the back of the couch. Messy black hair. The crunch of cereal. Fossils on TV.

"Sirius," Lily gasped in relief before James could say anything. Sirius swiveled his head around to peer at the two as they approached. "We were so worried."

"Why?" he asked around a mouthful of cocoa puffs.

"Well, we woke up and you were gone," James explained. "We'd thought you'd been kidnapped or something."

Sirius giggled. "Yeah right. After all those spells Arthur placed?"

"Given that the procompsognathus was roughly the size of a chicken," a paleontologist was saying on TV, distracting Sirius, "we theorize that they were able to survive the meteorite impact and its after-effects for longer than the larger theropods,"

"Idiot," Sirius scoffed. "You should hear the nonsense this guy's been spouting. Extinct _this_, evolved _that_. The way he talks, you'd think dinosaurs didn't still exist."

"Of course they don't," Lily said before James could motion for her to be silent.

Sirius' one visible eye narrowed at the red-head. "So. The truth comes out. You're a Non-Believer."

Lily glanced nervously at James. "Um, well…"

"Don't you know that the only reason that man is using the E-word is because he has a beard and glasses?" Sirius snipped, jerking his head towards the paleontologist onscreen. "They all wear glasses. I hate their glasses. Just like I hate paleontologists!"

Lily made a point of not looking at the bespectacled boy beside Sirius as she spoke. "But aren't they the ones who have taught you everything you know about dinosaurs?"

"Course not. They're all a bunch of idiots. If I ever see a paleontologist, I'll pee on him!"

"Is there any cereal left?" James asked, craning his neck to peer into the kitchen. Now that the fear was gone, he was rabid.

"Of course there is, who do you think I am – _you_?"

James smirked and ruffled Sirius' hair before heading into the kitchen. It took Lily a moment to realize that her knuckles were still white around her wand and that they were safe for the time being. How James could go from defensive to completely relaxed in a matter of seconds was beyond her.

"Stop it," Sirius snapped at the TV again as the screen depicted an animation of an asteroid headed for the planet full of dinosaurs.

Lily took the remote and changed the channel just before impact.

"Hey Lily," James called from the kitchen. "You hungry?"

"Um," Lily rose, finally tucking her wand away. "I'll eat at home, I guess."

James peered at her over his glasses. "Are you sure that's safe?"

She shrugged. Though she hated to admit it, going home to an empty house didn't sound appealing. Her parents would be off at work by now and Petunia had spent the night at her friend Edith's house. "I suppose I could stay a little longer." She rose and crossed into the kitchen, leaving Sirius watching an episode of _Peppa Pig_.

The kettle behind James whistled and he hastily grabbed it and poured some into a mug. "Would you like some?"

"Sure," Lily said, taking a seat at the island.

James grabbed another mug and nearly dropped it in his excitement over serving Lily. She pretended not to notice the slip up and merely smiled as he filled her mug with hot water then handed it to her. James blew on his then took a sip. When it became clear that he intended to offer her nothing further, she cleared her throat. "Um, might I trouble you for some tea?" she asked.

"Wha? Oh, yeah, of course." James yanked open a cupboard and grabbed several boxes for Lily to pick from. She chose Rose and while her tea bag seeped, she eyed James who was still sipping his mug of plain water.

"Don't you want some?"

"Nah, always start my mornings with a mug of warm water," James said importantly. "No tea."

Lily raised a brow. "Just… water?"

"Well, you know, it's hot, which makes it sweeter, so yeah."

"Right."

James smiled as he took another sip. He had already burnt his tongue on the stuff but if he suddenly acted like it was hot and stopped drinking now, Lily would know he'd been faking his comfort earlier and would think he was weird. So instead he forced himself to down another scalding mouthful. His eyes were beginning to water and his cheeks were flushing when Errol, the Weasley's owl, suddenly pecked at the window, drawing the attention of all three teens. James utilized the distraction to dump his mug of hot water and fill it with tap, pouring it over his singed tongue.

Lily opened the window and Errol held out his leg, letter attached. After carefully untying it, she stroked Errol's head then sent him on his way.

"What's it say?" Sirius asked, peering over the back of the couch.

"It's your house, James," Lily said, holding the letter out to the tall boy who was just wiping away his tears.

"Wha? Oh, right." Taking the letter, he sniffled a few times. "Hay fever, you know."

Lily gave him a tight-lipped smile as he opened the letter and read. "It's from Arthur Weasley."

"You mean Arnold," Sirius corrected.

"Yeah. He says that he thinks we ought to go out somewhere public today. Somewhere full of Muggles where the Death Eaters wouldn't dare touch us. Just in case."

Lily held a hand to her lips. "He's that worried about us?"

James smirked and held up three pieces of paper that were wrapped in the parchment. "He's bought us day passes to the Boardwalk."

"Really?" Lily asked, leaning in to read them.

"What's a Boardwalk?" Sirius asked.

"He goes on and on to assure us that he's certain we're fine, but that, just as, you know, a precaution, it wouldn't hurt."

"Right," Lily said with a nod, examining the tickets.

"What's a Boardwalk?" Sirius asked again.

James' head was busy swimming with images of he and Lily on the Ferris Wheel, the roller coaster, the haunted house, holding hands… and then she'd get scared and he'd….

"I'll have to change first," Lily announced, handing the tickets back to James and bringing him back to reality after the word "change" gave him a mental flash of Lily in a lavender bra.

"Yeah, us too. We'll head out after breakfast."

"What's a Boardwalk?" Sirius shouted this time.

"It's an amusement park," Lily answered. "For Muggles."

Sirius narrowed his eyes and repeated the word "amusement" suspiciously before sliding back down into his seat and turning back to the TV, which he switched off just as Peppa Pig crashed her bicycle into her proud father's pumpkin.

"C'mon, Sirius," James called cheerily over his shoulder as he started up the stairs. "No use wasting daylight. Up!"

Sirius marched upstairs after James, and when the two came back down they were both wearing shirts and shorts befit for the fine weather outside. Sirius had brushed his hair and Lily thought it looked rather like James had filled his with some sort of product.

Wands concealed but at the ready, James scrawled a note for his parents then the three headed to Lily's house. The boys waited for her downstairs while she changed. James kept looking at the family portraits, nodding his head to himself as he tucked his hands into his khaki shorts.

"Amusement…" Sirius whispered to himself yet again as he pondered their destination. He then whipped his head around to James. "My backpack!"

"Wha?"

"The one we filled with chocolates so I can kill myself as a dog – we left it upstairs under Lily's bed, remember?"

"Shh, keep your voice down," James hissed, stepping over to Sirius. "She'll hear."

"How're we going to get it back? She's probably naked up there!"

James smirked. "You think?"

Sirius furrowed his brow. "I suppose she'll notice if I suddenly turn up with a backpack that I didn't have when I left the house."

"I mean, if you think about it," James continued, "_everyone's_ naked under their clothes."

"I'd rather _not_ think about it, if you please," Sirius murmured, glancing at a picture of Lily and Severus as second years.

"Ready!" Lily announced as she jogged downstairs, her curly locks pulled back into a ponytail and sporting a tank top and shorts.

James was about to tell her how nice she looked when Sirius' exclaimed, "Blimey, you're white!"

Lily narrowed her eyes. "I'm a redhead, Black. It's what we look like."

"Yeah, but, some redheads' skin is red. But you're –"

James elbowed Sirius to shut him up. "Shall we go?"

Lily gave Sirius a pointed look as she grabbed a bottle of sunscreen and tucked it into her bag. "Yes."

James ushered the other two out the door. "But she's like, glowing, James," Sirius whispered as they fell into step behind Lily. Her shoulders tensed as she heard the remark. "I don't think it's safe for her to go in the sunlight."

"We're English, Sirius," James quipped. "It's not safe for any of us to go in the sunlight."

They arrived at a Muggle bus stop and James was paranoid Sirius was going to make more stupid remarks about Lily's coloring. He was spared, however, by Sirius' distraction by the Muggles on the bus with him when they boarded. The smaller boy craned his neck every which way to peer at them and at one point, even laid down on the seat to spy through the gap between the upholstery and the window. People were beginning to stare so Lily smiled apologetically then loudly said to James, "Isn't it wonderful that the mental hospital allowed our little brother a day out today?"

James just stared. In the matter of a second he went from horrified at the prospect of being related to Lily to comforting himself that that didn't seem to stop anyone in Sirius' family from getting together. "Wha? Oh yeah, really great."

Sirius was still contorted on the seat, peering at an old lady knitting behind him.

"I just hope he doesn't bite anyone this time," James added. Lily gave him a dismal smile and watched as several of the passengers began to whisper to each other, their curiosity about the boy who was so curious about them temporarily sated.

When at last they arrived at the seaside, Lily was sure to take Sirius' arm in a show of escorting her mentally challenged brother off the bus. "Step," James enunciated from the pavement. "There's a step down. A s t e p d o w n. Can you make it?"

Sirius glared as he hopped off the bus with ease, Lily behind him. "What's wrong with you, Prongs?"

"What's Prongs?" Lily asked.

"Nothing," James said hastily. "It's nothing."

Sirius froze as he heard the intimidating rumble of the wooden roller coaster. The Boardwalk was situated beside the beach and sprawled lengthwise for roughly a mile. Aside from the roller coaster, there was a Ferris wheel, kids' section, double shot drop, bumper cars, haunted house, and lots and lots of shops and vendors. Lily grinned. "I haven't been here in _years_."

"Me neither," James said. He wondered if he could win Lily a stuffed animal by knocking down some bowling pins or using a hammer to prove he was the strongest man in the world. Yeah, that option sounded good.

Sirius was too bewildered by the hundreds of Muggles, ride noises, screams, and scents of fried food to do much of anything other than stare. He'd never thought such a place could exist. "Amusement," he whispered to himself again.

"Yeah, this is an amusement park," James said.

"When you said 'amusement,'" Sirius explained as he followed James and Lily in, "I imagined like, pigeons and chess sets in the green, not –" He cut himself off as the roller coaster car flew down the big hill of the Giant Dipper, screams rending the air. "Are those people all right?"

"Yes," Lily laughed. "They're just having fun, like we will be soon."

Sirius' face kept darting about, focusing on first one thing then another, like a dog in a dog in a dog park. James rested a hand on his shoulder. "Wait till you try Dippin' Dots."

"Dippin' Dots?"

"Yeah, they're like these little balls of ice cream that aren't. It's like –"

"Next!" The dejected fellow teen running the ticket stand called. Lily ushered the boys over and handed in their passes. "Wrists, please." Lily held out her wrist and the teen stuck on a wristband. James copied her and the two had to shove Sirius forward and yank up his arm for him to get his band. James was worried he'd try to bite the worker given the way he was sneering at him.

"What is the matter with you?" Lily hissed at the smaller boy as they walked away.

"He smelled like grease and sugar."

"That's how everything smells here," Lily whispered.

"I know, right?" James paused to close his eyes and take in a deep whiff. "Smells like heaven."

"It's disgusting," Sirius snapped.

"You would say that since you're built like a bird." James shot a look to Lily. "The animal, I mean, not… yeah."

Sirius gave James a haughty look then marched off towards the Merry-go-Round. "Do you want to ride it?" Lily asked, smiling at the beautifully painted horses. James watched a Muggle walk away from a food stall taking a bite of a massive corn dog.

Sirius bit his lip, eyeing the poles that went up and down, then nodded his head.

"Then let's –" Lily began.

"Hey, I've got a great idea," James announced. "Sirius, you can wait in line for us and Lily and I can go get something to eat. We haven't had anything yet."

"James, the point is to stick together," Lily said.

"I know, but…" James watched another Muggle stroll past with a corn dog. "But we'll just be right across the way. We can still see each other."

Lily scrunched her nose in thought as she looked from the food stand to the Merry-go-Round. "All right. Just real quick."

"Exactly. Sirius, you want anything?"

Sirius couldn't look more disgusted as he shook his head.

"Whatever. Don't act like you didn't just eat your weight in Cocoa Puffs."

"Honestly, James," Lily muttered mischievously as they walked away. "Who do you think he is – you?"

James smiled nervously as he adjusted his glasses. He didn't really eat _that_ much, did he? And was Lily teasing him or… He nearly choked on air. She couldn't possibly be _flirting_ with him, could she?

No, James, she wasn't. But poor young Potter was so titillated by the aspect that he spent a whole sixty seconds coming up with a flirtatious response, at which point the timing and context had already faded. "Obviously not," he gushed. "He's not tall enough."

Lily stopped perusing the menu to give him a blank stare. "Who?"

Defeated and deflated, James's shoulders slumped and he gazed at the price of corn dogs. "Know what you wanna get yet?"

"Kettle corn, I guess. It's as close to real food as you can get around here."

James nodded. "It's on me."

"Oh, no, that's fine –"

"I've got it," James said with a crooked smile that was so natural that Lily actually felt tickled.

"Thank you."

"No problem." _Well, flirting didn't go so well but score one for being chivalrous!_

While the two waited for their food, Sirius was waiting in line for the Merry-go-Round. Unfortunately, neither of his friends had thought to explain to him the process of being allowed on a ride. Sirius was growing nervous as he saw patron after patron handing a bored operator their tickets. He didn't have any tickets. What would happen when he got to the chubby woman whose pants were far too tight and gave her midsection the appearance of a muffin? Would she turn him away or laugh in his face?

Some of the kids ahead of him declined to get onto the Merry-go-Round right away, opting instead to have first pick of the horses next go round. Not knowing what else to do, Sirius pretended he was doing the same and slunk over to their group when the chubby woman held out her hand for his non-existent tickets.

"He has a wristband," one of the Muggle boys whispered to the other. "Means he's got unlimited rides. Mum bought me that for my birthday once."

Unlimited rides? Really? Sirius straightened. He was practically king of the amusement park. Marching up to the operator, Sirius thrust his wrist in front of her despite the fact that the ride was in full swing. "Wait in line," she said in a deadpan voice.

"But I already have. I want to get on now. I have unlimited rides, see?"

"You still have to wait in line."

Sirius narrowed his eyes. "Do you know who I am?"

"Okay, I'm gonna ask you to leave if you don't get back in line."

"This is tyranny," Sirius hissed before marching away. He didn't want to ride the stupid plastic horse, anyway. Now that he knew he was king of the amusement park, he had bigger sights. The roller coaster rumbled overhead and Sirius squinted in the sunlight as he peered up at it. Perfect.

James had just finished arranging his various condiments when Lily furrowed her brow. "I can't see Sirius."

James glanced across the walkway at the Merry-go-Round. "He was about to get on, wasn't he? He's probably on the other side."

"Probably." Lily began to stroll over, munching on her kettle corn as she watched the various children dash about and pick their horses. James followed suit, ketchup dripping from his corndog and staining his navy blue polo. Hissing, he wiped at it with a napkin and had the roller coaster been running at that moment, he wouldn't have heard the distinctive laugh of Bellatrix Black as she strolled past and scoffed.

Whipping his head around, James spotted her strolling with her sister Narcissa who was pushing… a baby carriage? If the two had recognized him, they didn't show it, but James knew the lot they hung out with. They wouldn't be somewhere so infested with Muggles without a purpose.

"Lily," James said, hurrying over to her side just as the Merry-go-Round started up. "I think something –"

"He's not there," Lily said, her eyes darting over the children on the ride as it made a full rotation. "Where would he have –"

"Oh Merlin – I just saw his cousins, too."

Lily visibly relaxed. "Is he with them?"

"No. No, they're, you know, supporters of You Know Who," James said as he shoved as much of the corndog into his mouth as possible.

Lily's eyes widened. "We have to find him!" Shoving her kettle corn at James, she dashed off onto the main walkway, hunting out Sirius' shaggy black hair. "Arthur said we'd be safe!"

"Maybe he is," James said around a mouthful before shoving another bite in. No sense letting his food go to waste. He could powerwalk and eat at the same time. "Maybe he just –"

Lily halted as she caught sight of her quarry, James' chest bumping into her back. "Sorry." He followed her gaze. There before them, alone and playing on the bars that corralled the patrons of the Giant Dipper when there was a big line, was Sirius. He was swinging himself about in a casual way, as if he was playing on the parallel bars of a playground, looking snootily haughty, for there beside him, was Lord Voldemort. The Dark Lord was hidden under a black cloak and stood two feet from the boy on the outside of the bars, as if afraid to enter the child's personal space.

"Pleassse?" Voldemort hissed.

Sirius stuck his nose in the air and turned his face away from the pestering megalomaniac and let out a saucy "No."

"James," Lily hissed. "We have to do something."

The fact that James was taking the time to finish his corndog would be more despicable if not for the fact that he had read Sirius' body language. The boy was not only calm and collected but clearly felt no fear.

"What about fifty centsss?" Voldemort asked. Then, glancing around to make sure there were no eavesdroppers, "Sssixty?"

Sirius briefly appraised the imposing figure with a quirked brow. "Oh, stop it Voldemort, you tart!"

The Dark Lord hissed as if he'd been slapped.

"He's going to get himself killed," Lily gasped. She tried to run forward but James grabbed her arm, swallowing the last of his corndog.

"He doesn't want him dead, remember? But _us_…"

Lily shot James a worried look.

"Alright," Voldemort cooed in what he no doubt thought was a charming voice but betrayed his hurt. "One pound? Two pounds?"

Sirius, whose palms were still on the bars, his torso hoisted so that he looked like he was levitating, leaned in close with a smart look on his face. "Go away, you tart!"

Voldemort let out a horrible hissing snort that James realized was his version of crying. Swooping away from the boy, he made a beeline for the ocean, dashing past Bellatrix and Narcissa. "Come on," he hissed. "We're leaving!"

Bellatrix scowled and kicked the back of Narcissa's baby carriage. Kreacher, who had been masquerading as an infant to assist in the sisters' disguise, let out a grunting squeak at the blow. Wrangling the stroller towards the stairs, Narcissa followed Voldemort out onto the beach, Bellatrix in tow.

Lily and James dashed over to Sirius, who brightened. "Oh, there you guys are. Ready to ride the Giant Dipper?"

"Sirius!" Lily hissed. "Have you any idea what you've just done?"

"Yeah," he said with a grin. "Told him off. It felt good. He is a tart, you know."

"But you made him –" Lily glanced about to make sure the Dark Lord wasn't still in hearing range, "—You made him _cry_."

Sirius suddenly looked concerned. "You reckon I should apologize?"

"No!" James grabbed onto Sirius' shoulders. "No. You're right. He's a tart. Case closed. How about that roller coaster?"

Lily shot James a disapproving glace. "James…"

James shrugged, feigning innocence as Sirius scampered ahead of them to catch up with the tail end of the line inside.

"I can't believe you're –"

"You don't understand," James whispered as they began to walk after Sirius. "He blocks everything bad out, remember?"

"But _still_…"

"Lily. He made Voldemort cry. I think Sirius is right. The Dark Lord doesn't want to kill him, he wants to woo him."

The two caught up with Sirius and Lily had such a disturbed look on her face that James worried she might vomit. "As awful as this sounds," she whispered. "I hope you're right."

When at last their turn to ride the Giant Dipper came, Sirius was so busy trying to decide if he should be laughing or crying as they went down each new hill that he completely forgot about the Dark Lord.

Voldemort, however, could find no way to forget the boy who had spurned him, and spent the next several nights eating Ben & Jerry's ice cream whilst watching romantic comedies starring Ryan Reynolds, asking himself over and over again, "Where did I go wrong? Will he ever love me?"

_**Please let me know what you think after my long absence! :)**_


	19. The Invitation

**Managing Mischief**

**19. The Invitation**

Much to James' relief, Sirius was right. His insulting remarks to the Dark Lord kept him at bay, leaving the two teens with several afternoons of peace. In fact, they were getting rather bored. James' parents were gone all day at work and three times a week, James attended an elite Quidditch Camp where he received one-on-one training from Chudley Cannons players. In the afternoons that he was left alone, unbeknownst to James, Sirius would often take breaks in playing dinosaurs to write to Lily. After the incident with You Know Who, he no longer saw the redhead as a frenemy, but rather as a nice girl who often paid him more attention to him than James did. Plus, she could hold conversations about far more than Quidditch. In fact, the pair had a running joke about James and his Quidditch obsession, referring to him in secret as "the Quaffle."

Though he had more to occupy his time than Sirius, James noticed the lack of visits from Lily. Remus was off visiting relatives in the countryside and Peter could hardly be bothered to stop playing Halo long enough to write back to any of James' texts or owls. So when he wasn't droning on to Sirius about how awesome he'd done at Quidditch Camp that day, he was musing over the redhead's silence towards him.

Boredom breeds either vice or creativity, and in James' case, the former was true. After stalking Lily's Facebook page for a few minutes, James quickly deduced that she was spending time with Severus Snape – a fact that stirred his suspicions.

That jealousy simmered, filling him with grumpiness, just looking for a release, which it found when Sirius casually pulled a card out from under his pillow and read it before bed one night while James was in the midst of regaling the tale of his "epic save" at Quiddtich Camp for the third time that day. But it wasn't just any card, you see. It was a card from Lily.

"And everyone, I mean, _everyone_ was cheering. It was _so_ awesome," James said, smiling up at the ceiling.

"You don't reckon it has anything to do with your parents paying hundreds of galleons to get you into the camp?"

"What would that have to do with anything?"

Sirius shrugged. "Well, rich parents get angry when they pay a lot and their kid doesn't become a star."

James adjusted his glasses as he eyed the pirate ship on the front of the card from his bed. "What is that, anyway?"

"It's an invitation."

"To what?"

Sirius peered at him over the top of the card. "To Lily's birthday party, of course. Didn't I tell you?"

James bolted up in bed. "Wha? Birthday party? When? Where? Why didn't I get one?"

"Next week, Prongs. At her house." Sirius grinned impishly. "She wants us to arrive dressed as pirates. It'll be really fun."

James blinked repeatedly and far too quickly than was natural. "I don't understand. She sent this invitation to _you_? When?" And why was it under Sirius' pillow? James had a strand of Lily's red hair under his pillow but that was because he liked her. He was sure Sirius didn't like Lily and that Lily didn't like Sirius, or so he had thought. This new evidence suggested otherwise. Had he stopped to think rationally, he would've realized that Sirius secreted many things under his pillow, including chocolate, which never ended well. It was a habit born from living with Kreacher, for it was the only place his treasures were guaranteed not to be discovered.

Sirius shrugged and closed the card. "Yesterday, I think. Or was it the day before? I'm not sure, but I've even been helping her come up with ideas. I said we could have a treasure hunt and –"

"Hang on," James cut him off. "You… you've been talking to her?"

"As fun as Bandaid and Needle are, they don't exactly talk back, you know? We actually really like each other now." Though he had said the L-word in an attempt to show that he now considered Lily to be more than a frenemy, all James heard was the sound of his hopes and dreams crashing around him.

James slowly lay back down, the color leaving his face. _And here I had thought that I was making progress. That Lily Evans might have possibly even said something vaguely flirtatious to me. It was all a lie. She invited Sirius to her party but not me. She wants Sirius, just like everyone else in the world. I might as well be chopped liver or a ran over pair of spectacles. She doesn't want me. She hates me, in fact. It's all Sirius' fault. He's the enemy and doesn't even know it._

His theory about being trapped in a love triangle with Lily and Sirius came crashing back to the forefront. He'd dismissed it before Christmas for he knew it was ridiculous to consider his best friend as the one standing between him and his love. Now, though… now everything had changed. Even if Sirius didn't _like_ like Lily, the possibility that _she_ liked _him_ ruined everything. Everything! In the midst of his escalating fear, it took him a moment to realize that he'd forgotten to breathe. He sucked in a gasping lungful so suddenly that he startled Sirius.

"You alright, mate?"

James didn't respond. He just kept staring at the ceiling. His life was over. Gone. Done with. Had it ever really existed at all? Had he every truly existed? Certainly not in the eyes of Lily Evans who wrote to Sirius everyday but wouldn't even invite _him_ to her fifteenth birthday party. It never crossed his mind that Lily was an eco-conscious girl who only sent one invitation for the pair of them.

"James?" Sirius asked, frowning at the look on his friend's face. When the slightly older boy didn't react, Sirius tossed a pillow at him and unintentionally knocked off his glasses.

If there was one thing James Potter hated other than the thought of Lily liking someone else, it was being touched in the face. The only thing he hated more was having his glasses knocked off. And he was in no state tolerate mischief from the boy who now barred him from Lily.

Sneering, James shoved the pillow away from him. "What the hell are you doing? Don't break my stuff."

Sirius giggled as James moodily stuffed his glasses back on his face. "It was only a pillow."

"Yeah? Well, it's not _your_ pillow, is it?"

"It came from my bed."

"No, it didn't," James snipped, tossing the pillow back to Sirius. "That's _my_ bed, like this is _my_ room, and those were _my_ glasses you just knocked about, and Lily's _my_ friend."

The smile faded from Sirius' face, the sting of James' words lingering in his chest, striking upon a part of himself that he did his best to hide. While he knew he was welcome at the Potter's home, he was also acutely aware that it wasn't truly his home. At least, he had been when he'd first arrived. But as he and James' routines became so natural and familiar, he really had started to feel like he fit in the house and the shared room with James. Almost like they were brothers. Having his best friend point out that he was a guest who was only temporary hurt more than any of Voldemort's taunts.

"You said I could stay with you," Sirius said quietly.

Having not even looked at his friend since the pillow was tossed, Sirius' crestfallen expression went completely unnoticed by James. "Of course you can," James responded while reaching for his cell to check the date and time on the last text he'd received from Lily.

"Then why are saying that this isn't my bed?"

"Because yours is in London, isn't it?" James muttered distractedly, scrolling through his messages. The realization that Lily hadn't responded to his past three texts made a flare of anger rise within. "Merlin, Sirius, why do you have to invade everything? Don't you have enough as it is?"

Sirius' gaze drifted over his bed and to his trunk which was open, his model dinosaurs strewn about at the base. The pang he felt inside began to morph into an all too familiar ache of hurt, and he knew he'd never forget James' words. It was an ache which he usually only felt at Grimmauld Place and never thought he'd feel here. Not from James. He never wanted to associate that horrible feeling with his best friend. But come to think of it, he had worn out his welcome. He'd brought the Dark Lord's attention to James more than once. Enough was enough. He didn't need James, anyway. He could do well enough on his own.

Sirius yanked off his covers so violently that James finally glanced his friend's way. He watched in confusion as Sirius stripped off his pajama top and pulled on a Henley.

"Sirius, what're you doing?"

"Leaving," the smaller boy said calmly.

James sat up. "What do you mean leaving?"

"I mean I'm going home." He glared at James over his shoulder. "Back to my _own_ bed. My _own_ pillows. My _own_ room."

"Sirius, are you mad? You can't go back there!"

"Of course I can." Sirius tossed his dinosaurs into his trunk then yanked on a pair of jeans. "Then I won't have to worry about touching any of _your_ things."

"I don't care if you touch them, just don't break them."

"I haven't broken anything," Sirius muttered, slamming his trunk shut.

"With the way you run around like a mad dog, it's only a matter of time," James muttered. He swung his legs out of bed.

Sirius glared at James before grabbing his shoes. "You're so mean."

"Yeah, right," James scoffed. "I'm the mean one, huh? For letting you stay in _my_ house, in _my_ room, eating _my_ food. I never gave you permission to start stealing my friends and.. and…"

"You're the one who invited me, you nutter!"

"I didn't invite you to ruin my life!" James bellowed.

The flash of pain that seared across Sirius' face, giving him the appearance of a kicked puppy, made James feel immediately guilty for his words. Sirius' jaw grew taut as he grabbed his trunk and tried to haul it towards the door.

James scrambled in front of him and placed his foot on top of the wood. "Look, Sirius, you need to calm down."

"I am calm," Sirius practically shouted. James immediately shushed him.

"You'll wake up my parents," he hissed.

Sirius glared and tried to continue to yank his trunk past James. "Move it, would you? I'm trying to stop ruining your life."

"You're doing a crap job at it by waking up my parents," James hissed.

Until that moment, a part of Sirius had hoped that James would ask him not to go because he was his friend and he'd miss him, but the spoiled brat only cared about not getting into trouble with his parents who never would punish him anyway. "All you care about is yourself, James. I'm not your friend anymore!" With that, he dropped his trunk and shoved past James, bolting downstairs.

"Hey," James hissed after him. "That's not true. Sirius!" The front door slammed and James groaned. He hurried to his window to spy on where the other boy would go.

Sirius morphed into Padfoot. All he wanted to do was run and hide. To put as much distance between himself and James as possible. To show that he never needed James in the first place and never would. But as he trotted through his yard with its perfectly manicured lawn, Sirius' frustration reached a boiling point, and the dog side of him had to get it out in the only way he knew how. He bolted for the scents of leather and wood coming from James' Quidditch equipment shed.

The stupid git had nothing to complain about. James' parents loved him and gave him everything he ever wanted. Maybe they worked a lot and his dad was always peculiarly on that lounge chair, but at least he knew who his dad was and his mother smiled at him in a way Sirius' mother never had. He was loved and that wasn't enough for him. It wasn't fair. He valued his possessions more than his friends. The selfish prat deserved to be taught a lesson. And that lesson lay before him in the form of brand new Quidditch robes, leather wrist and shin guards, and multiple broomsticks. Sirius zeroed in on James' favorite.

James stalked about his room, holding a pair of jeans. Half of him wanted to see Sirius go and bid good riddance to him. All he ever did was cause drama, anyway. And get girls to like him without even trying. Girls like Lily who were supposed to like _him_. It just wasn't fair. Yet the other half thought of the horribly wounded look on Sirius' face when he'd snapped at him. That alone was enough to make James curse under his breath and yank on his pair of pants. Just as he was buckling them up, he heard peculiar noises from the garden.

Peering out the window, James spotted Padfoot digging up a hole in his mother's perfect lawn. "Hey!" he hissed. If Padfoot heard, he didn't react. And if James wasn't mistaken, the dog appeared to be burying something that looked suspiciously like a mangled leather shin guard. "Hey!" he shouted this time.

Padfoot dropped the shin guard into the hole then peered up at James, panting, looking for all the world like he had a smug smile on his face. He gave a short yip then hurriedly set to work filling the hole back in.

"Asshole," James growled under his breath before yanking off his top and pulling on a sweater. Stopping to grab a pair of Wellies, he dashed out of the house.

Padfoot had somehow managed to dig and fill in two more holes with Merlin knows what inside of them by the time James caught up with him.

James pointed an accusing finger at the dog, who kept darting around just out of reach. "You better not have done anything, _anything_ to my Chudley Cannons jersey."

Padfoot let out a series of yaps then darted several yards away. His guilty behavior was confirmation enough. James bolted for his Quidditch shed. What he saw inside made him fall to his knees. Though his arm and shin guards were missing, slobbered, mangled pieces were scattered about the floor. His favorite broomstick now had a handle so covered in chew marks that he couldn't comfortably hold it. A third of the bristles had been yanked out and scattered around the floor. And his jersey…

James slowly rose to his feet and crossed over to the orange and black robes. Relief flooded through him when they appeared untouched, except for… what was that smell? It almost smelled like… dog pee. On his Chudley Cannons jersey that had been signed by Stanislaus Bentley himself.

Clenching his jaw, James balled his hands into fists. He felt his face flushing and stiffened when he heard the soft pitter patter of dog paws stepping onto the wooden floor of the shed behind him. James spun about. "You! You… you.. you…" Words failed him. And instead of looking apologetic or submissive, Padfoot had the audacity to look him right in the eye and wag his tail. Wag his tail! With a primal scream, James lunged at the dog.

Padfoot bolted before James could even touch him. James knew he had no chance of catching up with the dog on foot, so he morphed into a buck and chased him, tossing his small antlers threateningly. Padfoot leapt in the air and landed in a playbow several yards ahead of him, letting out a taunting yap. Snorting, Prongs ran faster, his antlers level with the dog, who bolted out of the way just in time, leaving the deer to enmesh his antlers in a shrub.

While busy trying to detangle himself, the deer snorted as Padfoot began to run laps around him, yapping as he went. How Sirius could have so much energy as a dog, James would never know. But there was no use trying to catch him as a deer. There was a disadvantage to being a prey animal, after all. Yanking his antlers free, Prongs snorted and stamped a hoof at Padfoot before deer-leaping back to the house.

Padfoot stayed where he was, cocking his head and panting as he watched the other animagus retreat. Was the chase already over? The deer disappeared into his Quidditch shed then reemerged as a human… a human on a broom… with a wand. Laughing maniacally as he zoomed straight towards him.

Tucking his tail between his legs, Padfoot bolted, heading for a copse, hoping to lose James among the trees. It did little good, however, for all of James' time at Quidditch Camp had taught him to be quite agile on a broom, even a damaged, dog-chewed one. Weaving effortlessly through the trees, he nearly caught up with Padfoot.

Sirius knew he couldn't shake James in the woods, and didn't want to find out what would happen when James got ahold of him now that he'd destroyed his most prized possessions. Had he done the same to Regulus, he knew what his punishment would be. His mother would've casually hexed him so that he couldn't speak, screamed at him for a half an hour, then locked him in his room for a few days. Panic overrode his mind as James neared. He had to get away. He just had to!

In a moment of sheer dog logic, he altered his course and burst out of the woods and onto a main roadway. Without even slowing his pace, he bolted across the street. James yanked his broom to a halt and cursed as Padfoot narrowly avoided being hit by a semitruck. "Shit! Sirius!" The dog ignored him and continued at his breakneck speed, heading through the field across the road. Realizing that he'd be seen by Muggles, James darted back out of sight.

What the hell was he doing? Sirius had just about killed himself! The other boy was obviously not in his right mind. Zooming back to his house, James ran upstairs and grabbed his invisibility cloak. He no longer wanted to throttle Sirius, but he felt the need to find him all the same. He needed to learn that he couldn't get away with acting like a drama queen and stealing other people's girlfriends! The ridiculousness of that last thought was a vague realization that James dismissed. Yanking the cloak over his shoulders, James was about to exit the room when he spotted Sirius' wand lying on his nightstand.

He smirked. The idiot hadn't even thought to grab it when he "ran away." Taking a step, something squished under his Wellies. Peering down, he saw that it was the tail of one of Sirius' dinosaur models. Fire, the Tyrannosaurus, if he wasn't mistaken. The idiot had packed in such a hurry that he was going to have left his favorite toy behind, as well. He'd forget his bloody head if it wasn't attached!

James was about to step out of the room when something about the sight of Sirius' trunk and meager belongings in such disarray made him look back. The dinosaur. Named Fire because he'd been burned by Kreacher. It was a supposed accident, but it still had to have been painful. And given how many other dinosaurs the boy had, the fire incident was only the tip of the iceberg. Remembering how Walburga had threatened to sell her eldest son and was perpetually tipsy, James felt something inside shift. His anger disappeared. Sirius' home life was hell. He stopped trying to fasten his cloak and let it fall to the floor.

Before he'd come to James', Sirius had been locked in a cupboard for three days with nothing to eat or drink, earning him his newest Stegosaurus: Cupboard. "They felt really bad," Sirius had said, attempting to explain what he thought of as a terrible misunderstanding. But James knew it was no misunderstanding. He'd always known that the series of "unfortunate accidents," as Sirius liked to call them, which often resulted in new dinosaurs were no accidents at all. Walburga Black wasn't fit to be a mother and Regulus was behaving more and more like a sociopath.

Sirius, sweet, innocent, loyal Sirius who was so easy to manipulate in his desperation to be loved was their plaything. Walburga could earn his forgiveness for any wrong by later showing him the slightest kindness. And here he was, James Potter, doing the same as her. Taking his anger out on his best friend and scaring him so much that he just nearly got hit by a car.

"I'm an asshole," James whispered, sinking down to sit on his bed. His eyes drifted to Sirius' wand on the nightstand. Because of him, Sirius was alone, unarmed, and upset with nowhere to go and a Dark Lord and his host undoubtedly on the watch for him.

_I have to find him_. James stood up and grabbed the cloak once more. _This is all my fault_. Fastening the shimmering fabric over his shoulders, James dashed back outside and grabbed his broom. Taking to the air once more, invisible this time, James flew in the direction he had last seen the gangly black dog.

Peed-on jersey or not, Sirius was still James' best friend, and he needed the other boy to know it. He just hoped that Sirius would forgive him and was out of harm's way.

**_Please let me know what you think in a review!_**


	20. Finding Sirius

_This chapter is dedicated to **Scorpius** who shared my story on Facebook. Thank you, **Scorpius**! :)**  
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**Managing Mischief**

**20. Finding Sirius **

Petunia Evans screamed. "Lily! There's a wolf outside!"

Lily, who had been upstairs in her room, furrowed her brow and stifled a laugh. Petunia, for all her airs of seriousness, was prone to such dramatics. Peering out her window, she scanned the moonlit lawn. "Where?"

Petunia dashed into Lily's room, looking out the window with her. "It's coming this way. It's huge and black and hideous!"

Lily arched a brow at her sister but sucked in a shocked breath when a canine did indeed trot into view. It was a black dog with the gangly proportions of a pup, but she had to admit, it's large, pointed ears did give it the appearance of a wolf. Petunia covered her mouth to stifle a shriek when the animal paused below their window and peered up at them. Lily rested a hand on her sister's shoulder.

"Tuney, I think it's just a –" The black shape below had piercing blue eyes, almost grey, that were such a stark contrast to its fur and so unsettling on an animal that she caught herself doubting her senses. "– dog."

"What's it doing here?" Petunia demanded.

"It's probably lost…"

"Shall we call the pound?"

The dog was staring at Lily's face, slowly wagging its tail as it caught its breath. "No…"

Petunia marched away from the window in a huff. "Why people even _have_ pets is beyond me."

Lily tore her gaze away from the unsettling eyes of the dog to look at her sister. "What're you doing up this late?"

Petunia shrugged, fingering the tail of one of Lily's model horses. "No special reason…" A coy smile formed on her lips.

Lily couldn't help but be amused. "Tuney, what is it you're not telling me?"

"Oh, nothing, maybe just… something…" Petunia smiled at her over her shoulder. "About a boy."

Lily grinned. "A boy? You've never said! Go on, what's his name? Where'd you meet him?"

Petunia held herself all the straighter at her sister's inquiries. "Camp. We met at camp. And his name is Vernon."

Lily's smile lingered, waiting for her sister to divulge more, but as always, Petunia didn't know how to have girl talk. Not even with her own sister. "And?"

"And what?"

Lily sat down on her bed and patted the spot beside her. Petunia took the invitation and sat down. "And? What's he like?"

"He's…" Petunia shrugged. "Regular."

"Regular?"

"Yes," Petunia snipped. "Regular. He's not like your sort. He's Regular Vernon."

Lily's smile faded. Petunia always managed to slip a judgmental comment in. "I see."

"We were having a video chat when I heard the dog outside my window."

Lily nodded.

Petunia rose. "Well. I'm off to bed. Goodnight, Lily."

"Sweet dreams, Tuney."

Sighing, Lily closed the door after Petunia left. As much as she could tell Severus anything, he wasn't the same as having another girl to talk to. She wished she could trust her own sister like she trusted him, but as they got older and spent more and more time apart while Lily was away at school, reconnecting again became more difficult.

Crossing to her window, Lily looked out again but couldn't spot the dog. Hoping that it would find its way home soon, she headed for her bed, only to be stopped short by a whoosh of air and a breathless voice at her window.

"Lily!"

She spun around to be faced with James Potter's head floating detached from his body. Flinging a hand over her mouth to stifle a scream, she stumbled backwards.

Confused by her reaction, James looked himself over then hastily tore off his invisibility cloak, revealing that he was hovering on a broom. "Sorry. Look, I know this is really rude for me to just show up like this and all, but Sirius and I had a bit of a row, and he ran off. I thought I saw him heading this way. Have you seen him?"

Lily swallowed hard and got back to her feet. "No, I haven't."

"Damn!" James glanced about.

Lily opened her window all the way. "Come in before you're seen by a Muggle."

After a moment's hesitation, James hunched his large frame and flew in through her window, dismounting once inside.

"And what is that?" Lily asked in a whisper.

"Um…" James folded up his cloak. "Just something from Zonko's. You're sure you haven't seen him?"

"Yes, I'd remember if I had."

James sighed. "Well have you seen a black dog about?"

Lily furrowed her brow. "Did you see him too?"

"So you did?"

"Yes, he was outside my window a few minutes ago. He had very peculiar eyes."

"Which way did he go?"

"I didn't see."

Hissing, James headed for the window.

"James, what on earth does the dog have to do with –"

"Nothing, it was just… following Sirius earlier," James lied. "Look, will you do me a favor? I don't know if he's got his phone or not but will you text him? He won't answer anything from me. Not after what I've done."

Lily narrowed her eyes slightly as she grabbed her phone. "What exactly did you do, James Potter?"

James swallowed hard. Lily had never given him such a patronizing glare before. And the last thing he wanted to do right now was bare his flawed soul in front of the girl he adored. She'd hate him if she knew what he'd said. "Um… you know… it was just… sort of… stuff between mates."

"Fine then. Don't tell me," she quipped as she sent Sirius a message that read _Hey wanna come over to watch a movie?_

James stepped beside her to peer over her shoulder. "Did it send?"

After a minute of trying to send the message, it failed.

James took a loud step back towards the window. "If You Know Who has laid a finger on him, I swear to Merlin, I'll kill him myself."

Lily's eyes grew wide. "You think he's been kidnapped?"

"No… gah, I don't know! All I know is that he probably hates me right now!"

"James, please, tell me what happened."

James sighed and stomped back over to Lily. "We were in my room, he said something that got me mad, I snapped at him, and the next thing I knew he was chewing up my –" James caught himself just in time. "He was chewing me out and destroying all of my Quidditch gear and taking off. He almost got hit by a car!"

Lily put a finger to her lips to hush him. It was nearly one in the morning and she didn't want her parents to wake up and start demanding answers. "Could he have gone to Remus' house?"

James blinked repeatedly, straightening. "I've actually never thought of that. Maybe he has."

Lily placed a hand on her hip and was about to ask another question when a low growl sounded below her window. Both she and James hurried over and peered down to spy the black dog once again. His snarl grew louder when he saw James' face. "I think he has rabies," Lily said.

"Yeah," James agreed. "He sure is acting like it."

"Let's call animal control."

The dog yapped then began to tear into one of the nearby shrubs, shredding it apart and munching on the twigs.

"Hey!" James shouted. "Don't eat that, you idiot!"

"Lily?" Petunia asked from outside the door.

Lily closed her eyes and cursed. "Yes?"

"Wha?" James asked, spinning around.

"Quiet," Lily hissed. "What is it, Tuney?"

"I thought I heard something in there."

"Like what?"

"A boy." Petunia yanked open her sister's door and her sharp features darted around the room. Lily held her breath, afraid to look at James. Damn, she needed an explanation, and fast! Petunia narrowed her eyes. "Hmm. Must've been one of your oddities." Lily continued to stare at her sister as she backed out of the room and shut the door.

Whirling back around, she was surprised to discover that James was gone. Worried he'd panicked and flung himself out of her two-story window, Lily dashed to the sill and peered down. The black dog had destroyed the shrub and was trotting off towards a grove of trees in the distance. "James?" she whispered.

"Here." James suddenly appeared at her side, shrugging off his invisibility cloak.

Lily held a hand over her heart. "Merlin, you scared me."

"Sorry."

"Look, I don't know how to help but you can't stay here."

James wiped his brow. "Right."

"Why don't you see if he's gone back home?"

James winced at the word "home," for he knew he'd just taken that away from Sirius. "Yeah…" James nodded numbly. It was all he could muster at the moment. His adrenaline was fading and he was left with an odd hollow sensation. The gravity of his mistake was only just beginning to sink in. Readying his broom, he wrapped his cloak around his shoulders. "Thanks anyway," he said quietly to Lily. "I'm sorry for getting you involved."

"Don't be. I just wish I could help," Lily said to James' floating head. "I'll be sure to let you know if I see or hear from him."

"Thanks. Well… have a good night, then."

Lily smiled. "You, too. See you at my party?"

James had just floated out the window but paused, hovering outside. "Party?"

Lily waved a hand. "My birthday party. Nevermind. This is more important."

"Birthday party…" James smirked a little.

"Didn't you get my invitation?"

James's smirk turned into a grin. She hadn't been excluding him, after all! "Yeah… yeah… _that_ party."

"I know, it's not important right now. Go home and find Sirius."

Biting back his grin, James nodded. "I will. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Pulling the hood of the cloak up over his head, James flew back home and in through his own window. Hoping to find Sirius pouting in his bed or downstairs in front of the TV, James was sorely disappointed. There was no sign of the other boy. In fact, given that Fire the tyrannosaurus was still sticking out from under the bed, James knew that Sirius hadn't come back at all.

Sighing, James sank onto his mattress. Though it was late, he called both Remus and Peter, but neither had seen Sirius. Lily's invitation was on the floor. All of this had started over nothing. He just hoped he could fix things and promised himself then and there that he'd never again do anything to hurt his best friend. Little did he know, but it was a promise he wouldn't be able to keep.

Hoping that the boy would come back when he wanted to be found, James lay down to try to get some sleep. In his dog form, it seemed very unlikely that the Dark Lord would find Sirius, or at least, that's what James hoped as he drifted off into an uneasy rest.

When he awoke before dawn a few hours later after several nightmares in which Padfoot had been taken to the pound, hit by a car, and in one odd scenario, been attacked by a centaur on the Hogwarts grounds, James decided that enough was enough. Grabbing his phone, he called the one person who he thought might have a chance of talking some sense into the heir of the house of Black: Arthur Weasley.

After being debriefed, Arthur asked James to stay put then apparated into the field outside his yard. The fog of his breath shimmered in the pale morning light and Arthur wished he'd put on a proper sweater before he commenced his search for the wayward teen. Marching about in his Wellies, Arthur surveyed the neighborhood around him. James, of course, had not mentioned anything about Sirius being an animagus, so Arthur was looking for a boy. His eyes kept being drawn to the little patch of forest that lay just outside of the village.

Deciding that that was where he would go if he'd decided to run away and make a go of things on his own, Arthur headed into the trees. He was just coming up with a methodical search pattern and wondering how many others he should call upon to help, when he came across a little clearing. There, on the edge, was the huddled shape of a boy so curled in on himself in the cold that he looked like a lump. "Sirius!" Arthur gushed as he hurried to the boy's side.

Waking up, Sirius stiffly uncurled his limbs but couldn't keep from shivering. "Arnold?"

"Merlin's beard, you're so cold that you don't even remember my name." No, Arthur wasn't one for the little details, was he?

Shifting to sit up and hugging his knees to his chest, Sirius glanced about. Damp leaves clung to his hair and cheek. "I suppose I should've tidied the place up a bit. I didn't know I was going to have company this morning."

"Sirius," Arthur began as he shrugged off his jacket. "You can't honestly try to live out here." He draped the coat over the teen's shivering shoulders.

"Of course I can," Sirius mumbled, tugging the cloth around him. He wished Arthur hadn't woken him up at all. Now that he was awake, he was terribly cold again, and there wasn't much of anything he hated more than being cold. It brought to mind too many upsetting memories.

"I spoke with James."

Sirius whipped his head up to look at Arthur. "You did?"

"Yes, and he's very worried about you. We all were."

"Yeah right." Sirius wiped his nose with the back of his arm. "He doesn't care about me."

"That's not true and you know it." Arthur kneeled in front of the teen. "He's your friend."

Sirius met his gaze and Arthur was surprised that what he could see of the boy's eyes were shimmering. "I don't have a home, Arthur. I don't have a real family. The one I've got is mean to me and James Potter is an asshole."

"There's no need for such language," Arthur said quietly.

"Well he is. If he doesn't want me then I don't want him."

Sighing, Arthur studied Sirius at length as the boy sniffled and wiped away any of the tears that had escaped. This wasn't a petty teenaged argument or act of rebellion. He could see in the boy's eyes that a much deeper pain had been renewed, made all the more horrible because he was right. Sirius could not go back to his blood family. They were too cruel. And seeing the way the boy was valiantly fighting to keep his lower lip from trembling, either from tears or the cold, made Arthur narrow his eyes. If he ever met Walburga Black he would be sure to give her a piece of his mind! It wasn't fair that Sirius should be born into a family that didn't want for anything but had no love ,while Charlie had an abundance of love but not much in the means of physical wealth. How anyone could be so heartless to their own child was beyond him.

There was no righting Walburga's wrongs, nor Orion's if he was even still alive, but he could do his best to show Sirius what a real family was like and that he was welcome to be a part of his whenever he needed it. Resting his hand on Sirius' cheek, he caught the boy's attention.  
>"Why don't you come stay with me and Molly? Charlie would love to have you visit and you already know how well we two get on."<p>

Sirius wiped an eye again as he looked out at his clearing. "And leave my new home?"

Arthur followed his gaze. The sun was now rising and he could see more of the woods. Food wrappers and old cans were strewn about, half-hidden by leaves, which told him that this wasn't as secret a place as Sirius thought. "Yes… I know it's asking a lot, but it's been so boring of late in the Burrow. We'd love the company."

Sirius let out a shaky sigh. "All right then."

Arthur smiled. "Excellent!" Holding out his hand, he helped Sirius up and the two made their way back to the Potter's. Sirius waited outside while Arthur knocked on the door and explained to Mrs. Potter that Sirius would be visiting for a time. He returned with Sirius' trunk and had hoped to speak with James, but the tall boy had already gone out. Sirius looked rather forlorn with his messy hair, nearly swallowed by Arthur's coat, and if James had seen the state of his friend, he surely would've taken back everything he'd said right then and there.

As it was, however, James was out as a deer, looking for Sirius in the meadow. He had realized that Arthur wouldn't know to look for a dog and as such, set out himself despite being asked not to. Little did he know, but Lily had woken up early with the same idea as Arthur: that if she was running away, she'd hide out in the little grove, as well.

So it was that Lily Evans was bundled up and weaving through the grass, headed for the trees, when she came upon a rather striking-looking deer. The young buck was frozen in place, staring at her with eyes that almost looked hazel. Lily didn't dare budge. She'd never been this close to a deer before and didn't want to frighten him off. Moving slowly, she pulled a camera out of her pocket and took aim.

For his part, Prongs recognized the device in her hand and his vanity immediately took over. Holding his head up a little higher and pausing in mid-step, Prongs struck up a dramatic position.

Lily couldn't believe her luck. Not only was she able to take several photos of the deer, but they were so close and dramatic that she'd never been prouder of a picture. It was almost as if the buck was posing for her!

Realizing that he'd have to act skittish if Lily weren't to get suspicious, Prongs bolted at the caw of a crow. He bounded into the forest and searched the clearing where Sirius had spent the night. Lily was about to follow the deer when her phone buzzed. It was a text from Sirius_. Sorry I just turned on my phone. I'll be at Arnold's from now on!_

Relieved, she hurried back to the house to upload her photos.

Prongs, unfortunately, didn't realize that she'd left, and exited the woods rather dramatically, his head held high, displaying his tiny nubs of antlers. After strutting about for a few minutes, he realized Lily was no longer around. Snorting to himself, he bounded back towards his house and morphed into a person once more.

Once inside, his mother informed him that Sirius had left to stay with the Weasleys, though she couldn't quite figure out how they knew each other.

"Charlie," James muttered, his cheeks burning a little since he knew he should tell his mother the real reason for Sirius' departure. "He's friends with their son Charlie. He's a year below us."

"Oh, how sweet," Mrs. Potter said before kissing James on the head.

Heading upstairs, James sighed. Sirius was safe and sound. Though he still wished he could make things right between them, he knew they both needed some time to calm down. Remembering that they started arguing in the first place because of Lily's birthday party, James tried to feel guilt but couldn't. Lily had invited him, after all. And not only that, but her computer was about to be full of pictures of him, even if she didn't know it. Maybe last night wasn't so bad, after all.

**_Please share your thoughts! :) Reviews always make me write faster!_**


	21. I'mma Cat!

**Managing Mischief**

**21. I'mma Cat!**

Sirius lay in bed moaning. His stomach had started bothering him the night before when he and Charlie Weasley had eaten an entire bag of marshmallows in five minutes, but now it was much worse. Molly tried to get him to drink a potion to help with indigestion but he shoved it away then hid under the covers.

Charlie watched from the doorway, worried over his friend. Sirius had arrived the previous morning and while it had come as a complete surprise to Charlie, he rather liked the other boy. For as much as Sirius was obsessed with dinosaurs, Charlie was obsessed with dragons. They'd stayed up half the night sharing their enthusiasm for similar creatures.

"Oh, don't be so dramatic," Molly said with a sigh. Sirius' only response was to curl up into a ball beneath the covers.

"Is he gonna die?" Charlie asked.

"We're all going to die, dear. But no, not yet, I don't think."

Charlie stared at her, his face paling.

"Oh, don't fret! No one's dying anytime soon!"

"Except for me," Sirius whimpered from under the covers.

"Well you'd feel a lot better if you'd drink the potion!" Yanking the covers back, she tried to force the flask to his lips, only to have Sirius whack the bottle out of her hand, sending the contents spilling onto the floor. "That's it! Suit yourself!" she shouted as she rose and headed for the door. "Come along, Charlie."

Charlie reluctantly followed his mother out. As soon as he was alone again, Sirius morphed into Padfoot. The pain was much more tolerable as a dog. In fact, it even felt somewhat familiar. Sighing, he gingerly stepped off of the bed and curled up beneath it. The small dark space seemed more comfortable. What had he eaten, other than the marshmallows, that could so turn his body so against him?

There were James' leather shin and wrist guards, but he'd only chewed on those. He was fairly certain that he hadn't swallowed any of the buckles. Or bristles from James' broom. But there was the… oh no! Padfoot whined. The bush below Lily's window! He had eaten too much of it in his frustration! He was doomed.

Molly returned a half hour later and gasped when she saw the empty bed. Having been in the kitchen the whole time, she would've known if Sirius had come downstairs. "Sirius?"

Padfoot tensed, hoping his dark fur blended in with the shadows.

"Sirius?" Molly began to frantically look around the small room he was sharing with Charlie. When there was no sign of him, she looked out the window. Padfoot wondered if she expected to see a body below. Apparently she did, judging by the way she rested her hand to her chest in relief. "Sirius?"

With a sigh, she began to straighten up the room with her wand. Padfoot didn't have a second to react as the tangled covers were suddenly back up on the bed, leaving him exposed. Even so, it took Molly a few more moments before she noticed the black pup under the bed. Shouting in surprise, she took several steps back.

"Merlin's beard! Where'd you come from?"

Padfoot merely licked his lips, too lethargic and in pain to even care what she thought now that she'd seen him.

"Come out from under there," Molly demanded, pointing to the floor in front of her. Padfoot gingerly did as he was told, his tail tucked between his legs the whole time. Molly had just taken a deep breath to bellow for Charlie when she caught sight of the dog's eyes. They were blueish gray and had the same miserable quality as Sirius' the last time she saw him. In fact, they looked shockingly like… Molly frowned. "Sirius Black!" she hissed. "You're an animagi?"

Knowing there was no use denying it, Padfoot morphed back into a human, only to cry out as the pain immediately intensified. "Please don't tell," he said around gasps for air. "It's a secret. I'm not registered."

"In all my years –"

"You can't say anything. OW!" With that, he slumped face first onto the wood floor.

Molly rested a hand on his shoulder. "Sirius? Are you alive?"

"It's my stummy," he murmured, not realizing that he'd combined "stomach" and "tummy."

"Well then…" Molly closed her eyes, willing herself to get over the shock of his revelation. "This makes things clearer. You obviously ate something as a dog that doesn't agree with you as a person. Which is one of the _many_ reasons why teenagers should _never_ become animagi!"

"It was a bush!" Sirius groaned dramatically as he rolled over onto his back, his hands clasped around his abdomen as he moaned.

"For Merlin's sake, change back!"

Sirius did as he was told, and in a moment, he was Padfoot, and the pain had toned back down to bad cramps. Still no walk in the park, but hardly the agony he felt as a person.

Molly surveyed the black pup before her and sighed. "Well, there's no way around it. You need to go to the bathroom. Come on, I'll take you for a walk."

Padfoot yapped and climbed to his feet, wagging his tail. Molly couldn't help but smile and scratch his ears. He was one of those dogs who was so goofy looking that he was adorable.

After finding a leash in Arthur's room full of Muggle artifacts, Molly wrapped it around Padfoot's neck and took him out. Her hope of not being seen by the neighbors was immediately dashed. They'd just cleared the fields surrounding the Burrow when old Mrs. Pevershrew stepped out to check her mail.

"What's this?" Mrs. Pevershrew asked. "You've gotten a dog?"

Molly forced a smile onto her face as Padfoot wiggled his tail politely at the old woman. "He's a rescue," Molly lied. "Only temporary."

Mrs. Pevershrew nodded. "How nice. Can I pet the puppy?"

"Well, I'm not sure that he's –"

The old lady was patting Padfoot's head before Molly could finish. For his part, Padfoot hunched a little, unused to such attention. Molly shot him an "act like a dog!" look so he wagged his tail again.

"What a sweet boy." Mrs. Pevershrew tottered back to her mailbox. "Enjoy your walk."

"Thank you."

Continuing on, Molly waited until they were out of earshot before muttering, "This is all very… strange, Sirius."

_You're telling me_, he thought. How did she expect him to do his business while he was on a leash and she was… watching?

He didn't have long to think on it, for just then, a grey and black-striped cat sauntered out of her yard, arching her back to rub against the bumper of a car, arrogant as can be. Padfoot watched the cat, his lip curling.

"Don't even _think_ about it," Molly hissed.

Padfoot ignored her and began to growl. His noise caught the cat's attention, and she languidly blinked at him. _What?_ She said with her stance. _Got a problem with me?_

Padfoot yapped.

The cat ignored him and began to cross the street. When Padfoot yapped and lunged, stopped by his leash, the cat froze in mid-step, arching her back. She eyeballed him tauntingly, her body perfectly poised to run, practically shouting _Don't. You. Dare._

Any dog with a shred of dignity wouldn't let such a taunt pass by. Ignoring Molly's admonishments, Padfoot barked and yanked free of the woman's grip, charging at the cat.

The grey cat bolted, heading for an open field, her pace screaming what all cats believe in their hearts: _I'm the fastest cat in the world!_

She wasn't. Padfoot nearly caught up with her, though what he was going to do once he caught her never crossed his mind. Had he been more self-aware, he would've realized just how much the dog inside had taken over. When he'd chewed up James' Quidditch gear, he'd been completely aware of his actions. But chasing this cat… this was something different. Something instinctual. The cat was his enemy. He knew it from the first second they locked gazes. He was merely playing his part in a war that had been waged for millennia.

The cat leapt into the air and clung to the trunk of a tree, hastily scaling it. Padfoot skidded to a halt below, using his spare breath to yap. The cat puffed up her fur and hissed, and Padfoot had never heard a ruder insult in his life. His barking grew more heated. He had to show this cat that she was wrong! All wrong! And would never, _ever_, be right!

Molly was still halfway across the field. "Dog!" she called, not daring to use his real name lest it be overheard. "Dog! Get back here!"

_I'mma cat!_ The cat hissed. _I'mma caaaat!_

_And I'm a dog!_ Padfoot yapped. He was just about to try to climb the tree to show that cat what for when a sudden urge struck him. Sniffing around, he searched for a suitable patch of grass behind a bush. After having done his business, so to speak, he was so relieved that he trotted back to Molly, lightly swinging his tail, completely ignoring the cat, which he knew would insult her.

_Didn't you hear me?_ The cat seemed to say with her swishing tail. _I'mma cat._

Licking Molly's hand, Padfoot sat down politely and perked his ears at her huffing and puffing.

"If you ever do that again," Molly warned as she fastened the leash around his neck once more. "I'll feed you kibble for dinner."

Padfoot merely thumped his tail.

Thus healed, Molly walked Padfoot back home. He waited until he was safe inside the Burrow to morph. Sirius winced, paranoid that the pain would return, but it was gone. He gave Molly and lopsided grin. "Thanks!"

Molly narrowed her eyes. "Go brush your hair."

Just then, Charlie charged in, darting through the kitchen, only stopping long enough to swipe a cookie off the counter. Sirius fell into step behind the other boy and followed him out, taking half the cookie when Charlie offered, the screen door banging shut behind them. Molly sighed and shook her head. _Boys_.

Sirius and Charlie got on famously, but by the end of a week spent only in each other's company, even the best of friends can get grumpy, as Sirius and James had discovered. The two were outside near the house, playing with model dinosaurs and dragons when Charlie got sick of Sirius' Utahraptor always killing his dragons no matter how his dragon defended itself.

"You know," Charlie said with a devilish twinkle in his eye. "In real life, a dragon would win against a raptor any day. It would win against any dinosaur, as a matter of fact."

"Oh really?" Sirius asked, shoving some of his hair out of his face. It was long even for him, and he hadn't brushed it all week just to spite Molly for having brought him in the vicinity of the grey cat in the first place.

"Yeah, 'oh really.' You know it's true."

"Just because some can breathe fire –"

"It has nothing to do with _that_," Charlie taunted. "But has everything to do with the fact that dragons are real… and dinosaurs are…. What's the word again? Oh yeah. EXTINCT."

Sirius' lips grew taut as he narrowed his eyes. Charlie merely smirked haughtily. "Take that back," Sirius said lowly.

Charlie narrowed his eyes. "Never."

With a cry, Sirius lunged for the other boy and knocked the toy dragon out of his hand.

"Hey!"

"Take it back!"

"NO!"

"YES!"

"NO!"

"YES!"

"NO!"

"BOYS!" Both quieted long enough to glimpse Molly stomping out of the house. "What's the meaning of this?"

"He started it!" Charlie lied, knowing that Molly wouldn't punish Sirius.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"NOT!"

"ENOUGH!" Molly shoved the two apart. "Now, I want you both to wash up and get ready for Lily's party. You're filthy!"

Both boys looked themselves over. Sirius glared at Charlie. "I'm not going in so long as _he's_ in there."

"Me either," Charlie agreed.

Molly rolled her eyes. "All right then, one at a time. I've laid your costumes out on your beds."

The two boys each crossed their arms and started for the house at the same time, only to notice the other mirroring them and stop. Then start again at the same time. Charlie bolted and Sirius tried to race him to get in through the door first. Instead, they reached it at the same time and got stuck.

"Move!"

"_You_ move!"

"I was here first!"

"Were not!"

Molly stared. They were the same height and nearly the same small-framed build. Equally filthy. Merlin help her if she ever really had twins.

_**Next up… Lily's party, finally throwing all the boys back together again! ;) Please let me know what you think!**_


	22. Lily's Party

_This chapter is dedicated to the lovely ArwenFairTinuviel for her wonderful reviews and support. Thank you, Evenstar! :)_

**Managing Mischief**

**22. Lily's Party**

Lily Evans was turning fifteen. Though Petunia had left to spend the night at a friend's house, her father had been sure to host a party none of her friends would ever forget. He had several tricks up his sleeve, all of which would be revealed in due course. In the meantime, guests were still arriving. Nearly all of the Gryffindors in her year had been invited, and a few above and below with whom Lily was friendly. Unfortunately, Remus Lupin was feeling too ill and too close to that time of the month to attend, and Severus Snape was likewise not up to par. He had a massive pimple that he just knew would earn him more trouble than it was worth. The rest of her guests arrived in good order, and as such, her party was quickly shaping up to be a boisterous affair.

James Potter arrived punctually, though without much spring in his step. He was missing Sirius so much that even the prospect of seeing Lily couldn't lift his spirits. His week without the smaller boy had been incredibly dull, and quiet enough for his guilt to gnaw at him. So it was that when Arthur and Molly Weasley pulled up to the curb in a Muggle car (at Arthur's insistence… or was it Arnold's?), James craned his neck to see who would be getting out.

The first head to exit was a ginger. Charlie marched out and after much scolding by the Weasleys, Sirius finally emerged in the wake of the other boy. His rakishly long hair had been tied back into a stubby ponytail and combined with his pirate outfit, he looked swashbucklingly fitting. James grinned then forced the expression off his face when he saw the grumpy one on Sirius'.

"Hey," James said as Sirius stomped past.

Sirius paused. "Hi."

James nodded at his outfit. "Nice costume."

"Molly made it."

James nodded. "Cool." After an awkward silence, James adjusted his glasses. "So, you, uh, having fun there?"

Sirius fidgeted. "Sort of. Not anymore. Charlie's an asshole."

James blinked. Sirius had just cursed. Things really _had_ changed. "You know," James began. "I reckon our backpack full of chocolate is still up under Lily's bed. What do you say we find it and, you know, carry out our plan?"

Sirius grinned. "Excellent."

With that, the two dashed off into the house. Most of the teens were gathered in the kitchen eating snacks for the time being, so Sirius and James found Lily's room to be unoccupied. Closing the door, they set to looking for their wayward pack. Sirius found it quickly enough right where they'd stashed it when they were so rudely walked in on by Large Marge at Lily's BBQ some weeks ago. Zipping it open, he checked to make sure the chocolates were still all there. Their plan to kill themselves as their animal counterparts then be revived my turning into a human was once again on.

"Perfect," James said with a grin.

Little did they know, but Lily was climbing the stairs at that very moment to fetch something when she heard their voices. Furrowing her brow, she eavesdropped, wondering what the two feuding boys could be up to in her room with the door shut.

"Are you certain we should do it?" Sirius asked, sounding skeptical.

"Of course. We've already been through this."

"It's just that… it might hurt."

"Maybe. A little a first. But then it'll be over with. I mean, Remus does it all the time," James continued, referring to their friend's furry problem, which Lily was currently completely misinterpreting.

Her eyes were wide and she placed a hand over her mouth. _They're gay,_ she screamed in her head_. I can't believe it, they're gay. And James is trying to talk him into… oh, Merlin! Remus, too?_ She knew she should walk away and stop listening right then and there, but she didn't.

"But Remus isn't me."

"I know." James sighed. "Look, we don't have to if you don't want to."

"It's not that I don't want to, it's just that, well… it is a little scary."

"That's the point, isn't? To experience something new?"

There was a pause. Lily once again told herself to walk away and once again didn't budge.

"I don't know how," Sirius whispered.

James was quiet for a moment. "I'll turn on her computer. There's got to be information online. Maybe even pictures."

Lily was aghast.

"Can't Remus just –"

"No," James cut Sirius off. "We're not telling him. He'll try to stop us. You know what he's like. He'll say that we're being idiots and that we're too young for this stuff. It's what he's always said about us changing, hasn't he?"

"But we did it for him."

"That's why he doesn't like it. It makes him feel selfish."

Lily had slumped onto the seat of her pants by now. James and Sirius had turned gay… for Remus? Was that even possible?

"Hey," James said, sounding pleased. She could hear the click of the mouse. "These are really good."

"Wow," Sirius said as they looked at something on her computer.

"These are amazing, actually. Look how big that one is."

Lily had heard enough. If they were going to look at obscene pictures on _her_ computer, then the least they deserved was to be embarrassingly caught in the act.

"That's huge, James! I didn't know yours was that big already! You could fight a bloody battle with that!"

Just then, Lily yanked open the door. The two startled teens spun about to face her. Despite her decision not to look, Lily couldn't help but steal a glance at the computer screen. "What in the world do you think you're…" It was a zoomed in picture of an antler. "…Doing." Grabbing the mouse, she zoomed out. It was her folder of pictures she'd taken of the buck last week. "What's going on?"

Sirius was toying with his hands and guiltily studying his pirate boots. James was mortified, staring at Lily with such wide eyes that for a moment, she noticed a distinct similarity between him and the buck onscreen. "Um, we were, um…"

Lily narrowed her eyes. Could they have possibly been talking about deer all along? No, that conversation wouldn't make sense, unless it was about something else entirely. Confused, Lily closed the picture. "Leaving?"

"Yeah," James said with a half-smile as he adjusted his glasses. "We were just leaving. Come on, Sirius."

Sirius all but bolted for the door, James on his heels. Lily strode out after them, mulling over what she'd heard, feeling like she must be missing something incredibly important about those two, for not a whole lot was making sense right now.

Downstairs, Lily's father was calling all the guests out into the yard. The first big event of the party had arrived. A four-man group got out of a van with T.A.P.S. on the side. They may or may not have looked suspiciously like Grant Wilson, Jason Hawes, Dave Tango and Steve Gonsalves from _Ghost Hunters_, but the letters certainly stood for The Awesome Party Suppliers. They were a magical company and after a few flicks of their wands and a rolling out of an enchanted rug, Lily's backyard not only quadrupled in size, but morphed to become a tropical jungle.

The teens _oohed_ and _awed_ at the sight. Jay handed out treasure maps to each boy and girl. "Every kid has a different map," he explained in his American monotone. "Because every kid has a different treasure. It's like a maze in there. The point is to follow your map and get to your treasure and get back out first. While you're in there, no fighting. And no killing."

Jay signaled for the kids to line up at the edge of the jungle. James and Sirius posed beside each other. Charlie was on the opposite end and stuck his tongue out at Sirius, who made a face in return. Lily tucked her braid up under her bandana. This was going to be epic.

"On your mark," Jay said, raising his wand. "Get set… go!" Jay fired sparks into the air and the young witches and wizards were off. Lily studied her map carefully, pausing once inside the jungle to orient herself. James just ran haphazardly, slipping here and there on mud, wincing as monkeys and parrots shrieked at him.

Sirius splashed around for a good five minutes, pretending he was in the Congo with dinosaurs, before he remembered that he was after treasure. Charlie sprinted past, noticed Sirius' distraction, and tackled him into the mud.

"Hey!" Sirius snapped. Charlie merely shoved him again then darted off. Sirius glared after him. "Asshole!"

Screams erupted from all over as kids tripped and shoved and stole each other's treasure as they fought to be the first one out. Sirius studied his map, rounded a grove of palms, and there before him was a muddy little hill with a stream at the base. Under that mud was his treasure!

James, meanwhile, had recovered a chest, though he had no idea if it was his since he'd lost his map, when he heard Lily shout. Dashing towards the sound, he collided with a body that turned out to be Lily. His hand accidentally brushed against her breast, making James scream. Lily shoved him.

"You _scared_ me."

"S-Sorry," James sputtered.

Lily spun about to face a rickety bridge that ran over a rushing river. "My chest is on the other side."

"Your what?"

"Chest, James."

"Right. That's what I thought you said." James blushed and was scolding himself for his own flustered state when he realized that this was a potential moment of glory. "I'd be happy to help you cross the bridge," he offered. "If you like."

Lily's determined expression softened into a smile. "Thank you."

James grinned. "Of course."

The two set off to cross the bridge, and James was sure to do his best to steady it for her when he could. At one point, her foot slipped on a wet board and he reached out and grabbed her arm. She recovered quickly, though, and soon they were across and to her treasure. James couldn't have been prouder than he was when he saw the smile on her face as she held up her treasure chest.

Sirius, meanwhile, was in the middle of dashing towards the hill his chest was under when he was tackled yet again. Assuming it was Charlie, he was surprised to glimpse flaxen hair. It was his fellow Gryffindor, Cecelia Tabitha.

Shocked, he rolled over to glare at her. "Hey!"

Cecelia had her treasure chest under one arm and had tackled Sirius in an attempt to stop him from being the first out, but now that she'd touched him, she didn't care about treasure anymore. Shoving her off, Sirius scrambled through the mud towards his hill, only to have Cecelia drop her chest to clomp onto his torso.

With a scream, Sirius attempted to army-crawl with a girl on his back. But she was too heavy, so he started squirming and shoving. Cecelia squirmed and shoved back and after several moments of chaos and confusion, she hand his hands pinned on either side of his head and was sitting on top of him. Without thinking, she leaned down and kissed him right on the lips. Sirius lay there, stunned, before Cecelia leapt off of him with a triumphant squeal.

"I kissed Sirius Black!" she shouted in a sing-song voice, sounding rather like Bellatrix.

For several seconds that felt like minutes, Sirius was awash in so much confusion that he didn't move. _What just happened? How'd it happen? She was so… warm. Wait, my treasure!_

Scrambling to his knees, he plowed through the mud and dug up his chest. Cecilia was skipping about aimlessly, not even headed for the exit, chanting "I kissed Sirius Black!" She wasn't a threat, but Sirius was sure to shove her over anyway as payback for kissing him. She didn't seem to mind. It meant more physical contact, after all. She grabbed his ankle as he tried to run past and tripped him.

James dashed out of the trees like an ogre and surveyed the scene. Lily was on his heels and didn't even pause to see if Sirius needed help before making for the exit. Yanking Sirius to his feet, James and Sirius followed her out of the maze-like jungle. Cecelia slowly came back to her senses and followed them out at a leisurely pace with a whimsical smile on her face. The magical force field around the jungle zapped the teens clean as they exited, and once back out, it was obvious that they were among the last. Charlie had finished first, after all. Sighing, Sirius and James set down their treasure chests.

"No one's a loser," Jay said. "You all get the candy in your chest." He nodded to his team. "Grant, Steve, Tango, time to wrap it up!" Without even checking to see if any kids were left inside, they flicked their wands and rolled up the magic jungle, stuffed it in the van, and sped off.

"All right, everyone," Lily's father announced. "Gather around."

The kids meandered over to a makeshift stage.

"Have a seat."

Sirius caught sight of Cecelia eyeing him with a coy smile, so he made a beeline for James and sat down beside the taller boy. He could see Cecelia's blonde head out of the corner of his eye as she scooted so that she was seated behind him. While the teens opened their chests and ate their candy, Lily's father waved her up on stage.

"Lily, you're my beautiful baby girl, and I'm so proud of you." Lily smiled bashfully and James grinned back like an idiot. The expression on Lily's face made the rest of the world fade away and it was like he had tunnel vision. It was just him and Lily and her perfect smile. Everything was coming together so perfectly. He was essentially her knight in shining armor by helping her cross the bridge. It was like they were made for each other. "Which is why I hired none other than Tom Felton to play for you tonight."

James' special moment was ruined when the lanky blonde musician strode onstage with a guitar and the girls surrounding him screamed. Tom Felton (not to be confused with any person in real life, living or deceased) was the teenaged witch's Justin Bieber. And from the moment he stood beside Lily and rested his hand on the shocked girl's shoulder, James hated him.

Lily could hardly believe her eyes. She had all of his albums and while she wasn't the biggest fan, it was still mind-boggling to see the musician in the flesh, right next to her. Jay stepped off the stage as Tom waved to the guests. "Hey everyone, how's it going?"

The girls screamed back, seemingly incapable of intelligent expression, aside from Cecelia who involuntarily shouted "I kissed Sirius Black!" before clamping a hand over her mouth to shut herself up. Sirius cringed a little.

"So, uh," Tom continued with a little chuckle as he sat down on a stool and readied his guitar. "I'm gonna play a little song here for the birthday girl, Lily." He winked at Lily and she bit her lip and could hardly hold still, not knowing what to do with herself and all the attention. "Here we go. You may have heard it before. It's called 'Happy Birthday.'"

The guests, including Lily, laughed, and James scowled. _Yeah, bloody hilarious. Like I couldn't have thought that up. Idiot. _

Tom strummed his guitar and the girls started screaming again. They had to shush each other, and when they were finally quiet, Tom sang "Happy Birthday" to Lily. Her father filmed the whole thing and even through his jealous hate, James could notice just how adorable the red-head looked in her pirate blouse, tight pants… bandana… tight pants… hoop earrings… tight pants…

Once "Happy Birthday" was over, Tom gave Lily a kiss on the cheek. She blushed and held a hand to the spot he'd kissed. Then with a wild strum, Tom launched into one of his hits on his latest album, _Feltunes_. The crowd applauded and Lily took the opportunity to try to slip off stage but Tom didn't let her. He waved her back over and had her sit on a stool beside him. Grinning and blushing, Lily did so.

Sirius was halfway into a strawberry sugar snake when he felt something brush the fingers of his left hand, which he was leaning on. Thinking it was a blade of grass, he ignored it, until he felt it again. Glancing down, he was surprised to find another hand, Cecelia's hand, inching its way over to his and trying to rest on top. Sneering, Sirius shifted his position and snatched his hand away. But as the concert went on, he kept forgetting and putting his hand back, only to have Cecelia try to slide hers over his again. At one point, James noticed the commotion and gave her a good long glare before encouraging Sirius to scoot closer to him, which he did.

After several songs, Tom took a bow.

"I'm guessing there are some presents that need opening…" He winked at Lily, who bit her lip.

_Merlin, what I'd give to be able to make her do that…_ James thought. The teens rose and began to file towards the house since it was getting cold out now that the sun had set. Cecelia kept dogging Sirius and he couldn't lose her. His irritation was growing so much that when Charlie stepped out in front of him with his hands on his hips and a smug expression on his face, spelling out the word "extinct," Sirius lost it and tackled him, punching Charlie on the nose.

Charlie shrieked and Sirius was about to strike again when James hoisted him off of the other boy. "Hey! Bad, Sirius!"

"Asshole!" Charlie shouted, holding his bloody nose. Now James understood where Sirius had picked up the language. "I'm telling mum!"

Sirius merely growled and squirmed in James' arms, so he maintained his hold around his waist, as if the smaller boy were a sack of potatoes. With a glare, Charlie got to his feet and marched into the house.

"Calm down," James scolded as Sirius tried to twist his way out of his grasp. Just then, James felt his teeth on his arm. "Hey!" He dropped Sirius before he could bite him. "What's with you?"

"Nothing!" Sirius shouted, on his knees beside James.

Cecelia laughed loudly within the house and Sirius glared at the noise. James sighed. They were the only ones left outside now and Tom kept annoyingly strumming his guitar every now and then inside, making all the girls coo. "Did she really kiss you?"

"No, it doesn't count!" Sirius wiped at his lips with his sleeve as if they were diseased. Though he wasn't honest enough with himself to admit it, he was more upset with himself than with Cecelia… because a part of him had liked it.

"So she did?"

"It doesn't count because I didn't want her to! She just held me down and did it!"

James studied his friend who was still on his knees below him. He'd always thought that, out of the two of them, he'd be the first one to have his first kiss, well, first. A sick sensation of jealousy curdled in his stomach at the thought of his best friend showing him up on top of the pain of seeing Lily so captivated by Tom Bloody Felton. "It does too count," James muttered.

"Does not," Sirius insisted, climbing to his feet. "You know why? Because NOBODY LIKES ANYBODY!"

With that, Sirius marched to the house. _Yeah,_ James thought. _He's right. Nobody likes anybody. That makes life a lot simpler. Lily doesn't like Tom Felton and I don't like Lily. Piece of cake. Wonder if there is cake..._

Striding in after Sirius, James found the rest of the teens seated in a circle, eating slices of cake while Lily opened their gifts. Grabbing a place with a slice on it, James attempted to look casual as he headed over to Sirius and stood beside him, leaning against the wall. Cecelia had clearly had time to whisper of her conquest to the others, for girls kept stealing glances at Sirius, as if wondering how it could possibly be as easy as pinning him down and going for it, and if it'd be worth a shot. James slightly shook his head no at one girl whose gaze lingered on his friend, and she narrowed her eyes at him before looking back to Tom.

Sirius was too busy eating cake to notice any change in the girls' behavior, and when Lily opened his gift of a dinosaur he'd made out of clay from Molly's backyard and was still wet, he grinned. "That's an Apatosaurus," he gushed. "The length of the tail compared to the neck is –"

"That's great," Tom said, cutting him off. "Little messy, though." He took it from Lily and set it aside. Sirius's feelings took a dip at the slight and like James, he also decided that Tom Felton wasn't all he was cracked up to be.

Lily thanked Sirius for his gift all the same, then opened James', which was a pack of picture frames, as if he somehow knew that she'd recently taken some marvelous photos that ought to be displayed. That same suspicious feeling she'd had earlier crept up her spine, and Lily eyed the two boys critically for a moment before Tom handed her another gift.

Once presents and cake were over, guests began to trickle out, despite their attempts to stay to spend more time with Tom. When Molly Weasley came to collect Charlie, Sirius headed over to the car despite the fact that Charlie's haughty expression and Molly's disappointed one told him to turn back while he still could.

"Sirius Black?" Molly asked.

"Yes?" Sirius fidgeted nervously.

"Did you punch Charles?"

Sirius nodded shamefully.

"And have you nothing to say for yourself?"

Clearing his throat, Sirius met Charlie's gaze. "I'm sorry, Charlie. For hitting you. And… for my raptor killing all of your dragons when we played."

Charlie was quiet for a moment then nodded. "I'm sorry for saying… you know, the E-word."

Molly smiled. "There we are boys. Right as rain. You coming, Sirius?"

"Actually…" Sirius glanced over his shoulder at James. "I was thinking I might…"

"Yeah," James nodded, grinning. "Just send his stuff over."

"Oh, all right." Molly smiled. "We're going to miss you, Sirius." She leaned out of the window enough to give him a hug.

"Thank you. For everything."

"Of course, dear."

Sirius waved at Charlie. "Seeya."

Charlie's eyes filled with tears. "Don't go!"

"Oh for Merlin's sake!" Molly snapped. "A minute ago you were gleefully tattling on him!"

"I'll have no one to play with!" Charlie continued. "You have to stay, Sirius."

"I'll see you at school," Sirius said, trying not to tear up himself. "I promise."

Charlie sniffled and nodded. "All right. That's only about a month away."

"Yeah," James added. "It'll fly by."

"And you two can _visit_ each other," Molly said, trying not to get exasperated by their dramatics. "As in, _tomorrow_ if you wish."

"No, that's all right," Charlie said, suddenly himself again.

"Bye!' Sirius said cheerily before heading back into the house with James. Molly shook her head and drove home.

Once inside, James and Sirius realized that they were the last two guests left, aside from Tom Felton who was hanging out in the kitchen, chatting with Lily and her father. Sirius began to tidy up and James followed his lead. Once all the chairs were back in place, James found that he felt rather uncomfortable being in a room with Lily and… Tom.

"We should get our stuff together," James whispered. "We can just walk home."

"All right." The two headed upstairs to get their backpack.

Lily had been looking for an excuse to get out of talking to Tom for some time now. While she appreciated his attention, he had monopolized her to the point that she could hardly break away to farewell her guests as they left. Seeing the two boys head upstairs, she excused herself and trailed after them.

"She's coming," she could hear James mutter as she stepped in. Sirius hastily stepped away from the computer.

Lily narrowed her eyes. She was just about to ask what on earth they were up to now when she noticed that Sirius had taken out his hair tie. They grey eyes looking back at her through the black hair kept nagging at her, and she parted her lips to speak when the pieces suddenly slid into place. Closing her mouth, she quietly shut her door then turned to face them.

"You… I can't believe… Sirius?"

Sirius furrowed his brow. "Huh?"

"You're the dog. The black dog that stood under my window and destroyed my mother's bushes."

Sirius' mouth went dry and he paled a little as he slowly looked to James, who cleared his throat. "I… I don't know what you're talking about, Lily," James said.

"_You_," Lily hissed. "How'd you know I liked photography?"

"I…."

"You didn't! And yet you gave me picture frames. And were looking at my photos of a certain deer that you look rather like at the moment."

James only then became aware of how wide his eyes were and and how far apart his long legs were, blinked, adjusting his glasses. "Lily, we're only fourth years, we couldn't possibly be animagi."

Lily arched a brow. "Are you lying to me, James Potter?"

In that instant, a dozen thoughts tore through James' head. Yes, he was lying to Lily. _Lily_! The girl he adored, idolized even… and here he was, deceiving her, making them only grow more distant. Not because of Tom Felton, but because of his lies… "YES!" James shouted before he could stop himself. "Yes, you're right, I can't lie to you, Lily. We're animagi. Both of us are."

Sirius gave James a screwy look.

"But…" Lily furrowed her brow. "Why? And… how? That's really advanced magic."

James smirked. "I know, right?" Seeing that she wasn't amused, he cleared his throat. "Look, it's not like we did it just for fun. We did it to help a friend."

"What friend?" Lily asked.

Sirius shot James a warning glare.

But James was on a roll. He couldn't stop now, even if he wanted to. "We can trust her," he said to Sirius before returning his attention to Lily. "Look, it's Remus. He's a were –"

"James!" Sirius scolded in the high-pitched voice that he only used on his best friend, and only when he was angry.

Lily sank onto her bed. "…Remus Lupin is… a werewolf…?"

"I know," James said, resting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's a lot to take in, but he's not mean at all –"

"No… It makes perfect sense." Lily's eyes were clearer now. "That's why he's sick every month. I can't believe I didn't work it out sooner. How does he handle the… well…"

"Transformation?" James finished for her. "Well, that's where we come in." His voice was far too confident and chatty for Sirius' likes, so he sat on the floor in protest. "You see, he's really lonely when he's a wolf, so he like, needed some friends to go out with him. He'd tear a human to bits but not an animal, so Sirius and I got the idea last year to become animagi, and did a lot of research and… well, we perfected it this summer. So once next term starts, we'll go out with him on the night of the full moon. Should make things a fair sight easier for him." He chuckled at the tail end of his sentence.

Sirius was still fixing James with an incredulous look. Lily stared at the bespectacled boy for a long while before leaping to her feet.

"Whoa," James said as he took a step back.

"Are you mad?" Lily hissed. "Are you stark raving mad? Do you have any idea how dangerous it is? How many things could've gone wrong?"

"Whoa, hang on," James said, holding out his hands to calm her down. "It wasn't all that dangerous. Sirius figured it out first then guided me through it."

"You?" Lily asked, appraising the boy in a new light. Sure, Sirius could retain a lot of information when it came to the Big D's, but given his blissful ignorance of You Know Who's intentions, and those of the entire opposite sex (and some of the same sex, for that matter), she'd always assumed he was sort of a pretty face without much depth. But this knowledge changed things, and for the first time she realized that Sirius really was a Black. Cunning, witty, and much smarter than he let on. Yet in a very different way than his cruel cousins.

For his part, Sirius was being scolded by the second red-headed woman in one day and just wanted it to be over. "I was really careful," he said quietly.

Lily shook her head. "And let me guess, you're unregistered."

"Yeah," James said. "Kids our age aren't even supposed to be animagi, so duh."

"If you're caught you would certainly be expelled. But for being unregistered… you'd be sent to Azkaban!"

Sirius' eyes grew wide. "Azkaban?"

"Yes!"

Sirius dropped his head into his arms.

"Whoa," James said with a chuckle. "Let's just everyone take a deep breath." The two glared at him as he mimed doing so. "No one's going to Azkaban, all right? Because no one's finding out. You'll keep this secret, won't you, Lily?"

Lily's shoulders drooped. "Of course I will. But that doesn't mean that I approve." She eyed the backpack. "What's in that, anyway?" Without waiting for an answer, she yanked the zipper down enough to peer inside and see the chocolates her mother had bought for their BBQ. She cast a questioning look up at Sirius, who shrugged. "You could've just asked. I'd have given you all the extra."

"Yeah, sorry about that…" James said, rubbing his neck.

Sirius sighed and got to his feet, hoisting the backpack with him. "We ought to get going James. We have that thing we have to do." He indicated the backpack with his eyes.

James smirked. "Right. Great party, Lils."

"It's Lily."

James hunched a little. "Yeah…"

Sirius headed for the door and James followed.

"Wait," Lily said before Sirius opened the door. "Sirius… I can see why you would be a dog. But, James… why a deer?"

James fidgeted for a moment then said the suavest line he'd ever thought of. "You'll just have to get to know me better and find out." With a coy smirk, he leaned over Sirius and attempted to strut out for a dramatic exit, but instead, the door caught on Sirius' feet, causing him to stumble and James to step on him. The two nearly fell down the stairs but their fall was broken by Tom Felton who righted them with a smirk.

"Watch out," he chuckled. "Those steps will eat you." He winked and ruffled Sirius' hair as he passed. "Hey, Lils," he said as he stepped in. To James' dismay, Lily didn't correct him. "I'm taking off so… thought I'd give you my number."

James nearly tripped on the stairs again but grabbed onto Sirius for support. The rest of their conversation was muffled, but Lily was laughing. James could cry. His suave moment had been stolen by a bottle blonde, mediocre musician.

It wasn't until Tom finally took the thirtieth social cue that he ought to leave that he did finally go. Lily was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to be left alone to deal with all of the revelations and drama of the day. Before she went to bed, however, she noticed that her computer was still on. Curious as to what Sirius had been attempting to look up, she read the web search bar: _How much chocolate does it take to kill a dog?_ Furrowing her brow, she closed the window and turned off her computer.

Getting into bed, she had just shut her eyes to sleep when she remembered the backpack full of chocolate. "Bloody idiots!" Flinging the covers off, she lunged for her shoes.

_**Please share your thoughts!**_

12


	23. The Journal

_**Author's Note:**__ I know I've been terrible about updating regularly, so I have instructed my sister to beat me whenever I don't update within a week. Hopefully that will improve things! ;)_

**Managing Mischief**

**23. The Journal**

Sirius popped the twelfth chocolate into his mouth while James perused a local plant guide.

"There's plenty that are dangerous for humans, but it doesn't say much about what's dangerous for deer."

"Guess I'm going first, then," Sirius said after swallowing his chocolate and grabbing another.

James adjusted his glasses as he peered into the backpack. "How many have you eaten?"

"Lots," Sirius pipped.

"Enough?"

Unwrapping five at once, Sirius stuffed them all in his mouth before nodding. James grinned. This was it. The moment they'd been waiting for. In just a few short minutes, he would not only know what lies beyond the grave, but get rich for sharing it!

Sirius swallowed, gave James one last soulful look, then morphed into Padfoot. James crouched to eye the dog keenly, his wand at the ready to transform Sirius back into a person at any instant. Padfoot wagged his tail a little at James then sat down, apparently waiting to die. James and the dog's eyes were locked as the minutes ticked past, each waiting for something to happen. Then something did. Only it wasn't what they expected.

Someone knocked on the door downstairs.

"Wha?" James asked as he broke eye contact with Padfoot. "It's past eleven."

Padfoot sniffed the air, as if he could tell who it was from his distance.

"Wait here," James whispered then tip-toed out of the room and downstairs. Peeking out of the window, he was surprised to spot Lily waiting outside. James quietly opened the door. "Lily?"

Lily placed her hands on her hips. "James Potter," she hissed. "Is Sirius here?"

James furrowed his brow. "Yeah, but what are – "

"I can't believe how stupid you two are," Lily continued as she invited herself inside. James awkwardly closed the door behind her. "Trying to kill yourselves for fun. Kill yourselves?"

"Um, actually, it's not for fun, it's for science. And how did you know?"

"I saw what you were researching on my computer," Lily whisper-shouted. "And it's the stupidest idea ever."

James smirked. "You won't say that when we're rich and famous."

"James," Lily began in all seriousness. "I'm only going to say this once so you best listen." James nodded. "When you're dead, you're dead. There's no coming back. As an animagus or as a human."

James could feel his stomach growing cold. "There isn't?"

"No, you idiot."

"Crap!" James bolted up the stairs, taking two or three at a time, rather like his animagus counterpart. Lily followed him and the two found Padfoot with his nose in the backpack, eating more chocolates, wrapper and all. "Sirius, stop! If you die, you don't come back!"

Padfoot whipped his head up, a wrapper hanging from one of his canines, as he peered up at James. He wagged his tail when Lily appeared behind him and she couldn't help but smile at the adorable black dog. She'd always wanted a dog but Petunia was allergic.

"He's so cute," she gushed as she pushed past James to stroke Padfoot's head. "Who's a good boy?"

To James' surprise, Padfoot had no shame and thumped his tail all the more.

"Lily," James cautioned, "You do remember that he's Sirius, don't you?"

"What's your point?" Lily had Padfoot's face in her hands as she cooed at him.

"Well, he understands you…"

"He's even cuter as a dog, aren't you?"

Padfoot yapped quietly and licked Lily on the cheek.

James had had enough and shut his door. "Whatever. Sirius, you have to change back before –"

Just then, Padfoot let out a low moan and laid down.

"Crap."

Lily grabbed the backpack and sifted her hand through the multiple empty wrappers. "He ate all these?"

James nodded, rubbing his neck. "Sirius, turn back. NOW."

Lily let out a quiet gasp as Padfoot morphed back into a teenage boy. Sirius sat up, raking his hair out of his face. "I feel a bit woozy."

"Like… as in… you're…"

"About to be sick," Sirius finished for him, rushing to the bathroom.

Lily covered her ears to block out the noise of Sirius' vomiting. She narrowed her eyes at James. "You should know better."

"Wha? Why me?"

"Because you're older."

"Yeah, by like, eight months!"

"Taller, then!"

James bent down to get eye-level with the ginger. "Still not fair."

Lily huffed as Sirius heaved again across the hall. "Smarter, then."

A corner of James' mouth quirked in a smile. _She knows I'm a genius…_

"I expected more from you. Sirius isn't stupid but he's, well… he's naïve and gullible and listens to you. You have to be careful what you say to him, James. He really looks up to you. Like a big brother."

James was about to protest when he realized that he and Sirius were almost far enough apart in age to pull off being siblings. He sighed. "He is a bit of a baby, isn't he?"

Lily cocked her head, un-amused.

"Alright, alright, I'll pay more attention."

"Thank you."

James fidgeted. Lily had just put him in his place, so he ought to be embarrassed, but instead, he felt this warm tingle inside. Because, in a way, it was almost as if he was her husband and she was talking to him about their child, Sirius. Not that he wanted Sirius to be his child or anything demented like that, but it did make him feel somewhat closer to Lily.

Once the toilet was flushed and Sirius had a chance to wash up, Lily stepped into the bathroom to check on him. She only left when she was assured that their harebrained scheme had been abandoned.

Sirius lay in bed, curled up on his side and pouting over the nausea. "James?" he asked, eyeing the nefarious backpack full of chocolates. "Do me a favor and get rid of those things, will you? I can still smell them."

James glanced at the bag. He couldn't smell anything but then again, his animagus form wasn't a dog. Grabbing the backpack, he emptied the rest of the chocolates and their wrappers into the trash can when something else fell out of the pack with a _thunk_.

Sirius sat up. "What was that?"

James adjusted his glasses as he fished the object out of the trash. "It's… a journal or something."

Sirius crawled to the end of the bed and peered at his friend on his stomach. "Like a diary?"

James opened the cover and looked at the first page. "Property of…" His eyes met Sirius'. "Lily Evans."

"Go on, then. Put it away. We'll give it to her later."

"Yeah, but…" James' lips kept twitching. "What if, like, we're in here?"

Sirius arched a brow, though it wasn't very visible through his mop of hair. "James…" he cautioned in his high-pitched warning voice.

"You're right." James tossed the little book onto his dresser and crossed over to his bed. "Just… how do you reckon it got into our backpack?"

"It was under her bed for weeks. She probably stashed it there." Sirius frowned. He wasn't used to sugar at the best of times, and now he'd overdosed. His stomach was about to rebel again. Clamping a hand over his mouth, he sprinted for the bathroom once more.

James watched him leave with concern etched on his brow. As soon as Sirius had shut the door to the bathroom, however, James dashed over to the dresser and grabbed the book. Tossing it in the air, he let it fall and open to a random page. "Ooops." Since it was already open and all, he figured it wouldn't hurt to see what was on the page.

Picking the journal up, he frowned when he realized the scrawl was written in crayon and was nearly unintelligible. "_I saw them by the lake_," he read quietly to himself. "_All four were poking the water with sticks at 4:10 PM. The next day they came back but at 5 PM. – Marge._" James' blood ran cold, and it wasn't from the sounds of Sirius heaving across the hall. This was no ordinary diary. This was enemy intelligence.

Sinking onto his bed, he flipped back to the front. Behind the title page was another which read: _Being a record of the observations of Lily, Marge, and _(the name of the Hufflepuff had an ink blot on it) _on the enemy: James, Sirius, Remus, __and Peter_(the last boy's name had been crossed out on account of his general boringness).

Sufficiently chilled, James turned the page. It was a schedule. His schedule from fourth year. Along with Sirius' and Remus'. All in Lily's curly handwriting. A few pages later were gross caricatures drawn in green crayon by Large Marge, no doubt. James' was all tall and skin and bones and glasses. Sirius was essentially a midget with hair. Remus was… James adjusted his glasses. Remus was rather nice, actually. Large Marge really did have a thing for the poor werewolf.

The pages after that were a mix of observations and doodles and notes the girls had written to each other that had nothing to do with their mission. James was reading a particularly interesting one in which the girls were discussing the pros and cons of initiating Severus into their order when Sirius startled him.

"What are you doing?"

James jumped a little and slammed the journal shut. "Wha? Nothing."

Sirius narrowed his eyes. "You're reading Lily's diary."

"No, I'm not."

"I just saw you."

"I know, but you're wrong. It's not Lily's diary. It's a spy book."

Sirius sat down on the edge of his bed, feeling a bit better now that most of the chocolate was out of his system. How Remus could pack away five chocolate bars and not even feel a twinge of regret was beyond him. "What's a spy book?"

"Large Marge and all of them spied on us and wrote it all down."

"No!"

"They did!" James flipped to a page and glanced at Sirius to make sure he was paying attention as he started to read. "_Skinny got a drink from the fountain around 12:12 then whistled as he walked down the hall on his…_" James hesitated.

Sirius frowned. "On my what?"

"_Stumpy legs."_

Sirius scowled and grabbed the book out of James' hands to see for himself. "Stumpy? Who's she calling stumpy? Her legs look like two tree trunks, they do. They're not proportionate at all!"

James chuckled. "Right?"

Sirius turned the page and read. "_Remus sat in the corner and was quiet. I want to squeeze the life out of him_." He glanced at James. "She definitely has a crush on him."

James straightened. Sirius had just expressed knowledge of attraction. "…What do you mean?"

"I mean, obviously. She wants to crush him. Really James, I thought you'd know that word by now."

James just stared.

"_Glasses is getting tall. He may become a physical threat soon. I wonder how hard he would be to snap_." Sirius skipped down to a section written in another hand. "_No, no snapping allowed. If we killed them, or maimed them, we'd have no one to toy with, would we? I say we each go with one to the dance as a reconnaissance operation and –_"

"Hang on," James interrupted. "Who wrote that?"

Sirius skimmed to the bottom of the paragraph. "L.E."

James paled as he stared out the window into the night sky.

"What is it?" Sirius asked.

James' voice was barely above a whisper. "My entire life has been a lie."

Sirius giggled. "What?"

"Lily," James said, his voice weak. "All of it. A lie. She went to the dance with me to spy… not because she liked me."

"You were bald, mate."

"Yeah, thanks to you," James snapped. "All this time I thought… she might have… maybe felt something… that I had a chance…"

"A chance at what?"

James closed his eyes. Sirius would never understand. How could he when his mantra was _NOBODY LIKES ANYBODY_? Lying down, James slowly curled up in a ball. "I thought that I was making progress. That she was my friend…"

Sirius closed the book. He'd seen something written by the Hufflepuff about how beautiful Skinny's one eye was and he didn't want to read any more. "She is your friend, James, don't be silly. And mine. This book is old. We're hardly frenemies anymore."

James couldn't respond. His mouth had gone dry.

"Anyway, I'm leaving to the Congo for two weeks."

James furrowed his brow. "Wha?" he asked to the ceiling.

"I've told you a dozen times, James," Sirius continued as he crawled under the covers with a yawn. "I'm going to find the dinosaurs. That's where they still live."

"Yeah, right," James agreed distractedly. He kept telling himself that being on amicable terms with Lily was better than being frenemies, but it somehow did nothing to alleviate the sting of having been her pawn.

"Goodnight, James," Sirius said, chipper as ever.

"… 'Night."

James was so tormented by his thoughts and so used to Sirius making extreme claims about the Big D's that he didn't pay the younger boy's comment much heed. That was, until he awoke the next morning to discover that Sirius really was gone.

**_Please review! :)_**


	24. Welcome Home, Sirius!

_Author's Note:_ You might wanna have YouTube open while you read this chapter since it has some musical accompaniment ;)

**Managing Mischief**

**24. Welcome Home, Sirius!**

Sirius had indeed traveled to the Congo in search of the last surviving dinosaurs in Likouala. How he managed to procure so much Muggle transportation when he could hardly tie his shoes while talking was a mystery. James awoke the morning after Lily's party alone. Sirius had left him a note, explaining where he'd gone, but it didn't make James feel much better.

Sometimes he felt like he was standing still while his friends all moved on without him. Here was Sirius, off exploring the world and following his dreams, and Lily playing mind games and flirting with celebrities, and Remus was… Remus! James pulled out his phone. He'd hardly seen the smaller boy all summer and Marge's journal entry about him was excuse enough to get back in touch. Much to his dismay, Remus and his parents were gone traveling.

Sighing, James set his phone aside. That left… Peter. And Peter wasn't much. It wasn't that he disliked the other boy, it was just that he, Remus and Sirius enjoyed moving and using their bodies, even if it just meant going for a walk, while Peter always complained and moved at a slow trundle at best. The round boy was round for a reason. He disliked physical activity. While the difference in their personalities wasn't that great as first years or even as fourth years, James was starting to feel distance growing between his other friends and Peter.

"Jamesie," James' mother called from downstairs. James hadn't even known she was home. "Mummy made pancakes!"

"Coming!" James was out of bed in a flash. His mother made the best food in the world and always knew how to comfort him and make him feel, well, like he was the only person in the world who mattered.

And so about two weeks passed. James combatted his loneliness with outings with his parents and by being spoiled by his mother, Martha. They took him on shopping sprees in both Wizarding and Muggle shopping centers, to water parks, and to visit his grandparents at their Edwardian estate in the countryside. James adored the mansion and hoped that he'd one day inherit it. The only word he heard from Sirius was a tattered, dirtied post card that arrived via Muggle post, and merely read: _Having a great time and making lots of new friends!_

Lots of new friends? Great. Now it was only a matter of time before his best friend, his brother, moved to the Congo and left him alone and wretched. Unloved. Unlovable…

Yes, James was prone to hormonal dramatics, which would get him into trouble in the fall, but more on that later.

As the days slipped past, James started to grow worried that Sirius was never coming back. Then he got an owl from Remus. _Sirius will be coming home this evening, so I shall be hosting a little dinner party in celebration of both his homecoming and his birthday (which is also today)._

James stared at the parchment then looked to the calendar. Sirius was coming back! And Remus was right, it was August 22nd! Sirius' birthday! How could he have possibly missed his best friend's birthday? For the first time, James realized just how mopey he'd been of late and was just the slightest bit embarrassed. How Remus had been in touch with Sirius didn't make much sense to James, but he was excited by the idea of welcoming his friend back anyway.

Dressing in slacks and a collared shirt, James readied himself for the dinner party that he was sure Lily would be attending. Not that it mattered. She didn't like him and never would. James winced. He had to stop such thoughts. They didn't do anyone any good. But without Sirius around to tell him to shut up and to distract him, he'd fallen into the bad habit of teenage angst.

Remus answered the door, clad in an apron, and James stared for several seconds as he took in his friend's appearance. It wasn't the apron that surprised him, for he knew Remus had an affinity for the culinary arts. Nor was it the fact that Remus' hair had gotten rather blonde in the summer sun. It was the fact that Remus had grown a pair of shoulders and… was only shorter than James by a few inches.

"You…" James stuttered. "You're…"

"Come on in," Remus said with a smile that revealed that he also had a… well, a jaw. James could see more of what the werewolf was going to look like as an adult than as a child in his full face. As James stepped in, he watched Remus stroll over to the oven and take his lasagna out and set it on the island without needing to stand on a stool to do so. Unless Sirius had pulled a miracle growth spurt in the Congo, he was now the shortest of the Marauders. James smirked.

"Smells great," James said, sliding into one of the stools alongside the island.

"It's a new recipe so I hope it turned out all right. The noodles are always such a bloody hassle."

James nodded, pretending he knew a thing or two about cooking. Remus' voice was deeper, as well. How did all of this happen?

"So…" James began. "It's been a while."

"Heard you were busy," Remus, said, flicking his long bangs out of his face. "Lily said something about the Dark Lord playing a prank on you guys or something?"

James furrowed his brow. "Lily? You… you talk to Lily?"

Remus studied James for a moment. "She's in the other room, James."

James immediately stiffened. "She… is?"

"Along with the rest of the guests. In fact…" Remus glanced at the clock. "We ought to start setting stuff up outside. Sirius will be here any minute."

Remus carried the lasagna out to the table outside using two oven mitts while James followed with a bowl of salad. The backyard had been decorated with white fairy lights in the trees and cheery lanterns of all colors hanging over the long table with a white tablecloth. The charming sight and the salad bowl in his hands made James feel very grown up and proud to be friends with someone of such aesthetic taste.

"So you've heard from Sirius?" James asked as he set the salad bowl down.

"No, have you?"

"No, but… I mean… you organized all of this so I thought that…"

"The last time I saw him was the last time I saw you: June."

James nodded, a bit of guilt sneaking up on him over not having made more of an attempt to include Remus in their summer escapades. "How's it been, with… you know?"

Remus sighed, unconsciously glancing at the moon to check its fullness. "As well as can be expected under the circumstances."

"Good, because, about that, Sirius and I have been working on something that we think will help."

Remus stopped adjusting the place settings and gave James a patronizing look. "No one's ever been able to successfully create the Wolfsbane Potion so don't –"

"We're animagi," James hissed in his friend's ear before he could think twice.

Remus slowly looked up at James. "What did you say?"

James smirked. "Pretty brilliant, right? I'm a…" He glanced around to make sure none of the other guests had wandered outside. They hadn't. "I'm a stag and he's a dog."

Remus blinked. "A stag?"

"Okay, well, not quite a stag yet, but a buck, at least."

Remus slowly took a deep breath. "James Potter… I'm not certain I'm understanding what you're telling me, so let's just wait until after the party to discuss this because… because… Sirius will be here any minute. Literally."

James furrowed his brow. "How'd you know?"

"I just do."

Remus power-walked into the house and gathered the guests, leading them out to the table. James busied himself by scooting the chairs out so that people could easily sit down. To his delight, Lily took the seat across from him. He was so distracted by the way she'd braided back the top of her curly red hair that he didn't notice that her sister Petunia was with her until the other girl gave him a snooty look, as if she'd caught him perving on her sister. But that's just what she always looked like. Offering a small, apologetic smile, James shifted his attention to the table.

Charlie Weasley was there, along with Molly and Arthur, both of whom appeared endlessly amused by Remus' manners and presentation. Remus' parents were there, as well, however they stuck to spying out from behind the curtains, not wanting to ruin the façade that this was _Remus'_ dinner party, after all. Remus took his seat beside the head of the table after pouring everyone a glass of lemonade.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he announced, lightly rapping his glass with a fork. "May I have your attention please?"

James tried not to laugh at the seriousness of his friend's newly-deep tone, but gave him his attention nonetheless. Until he noticed Lily studying himself. Just what she was looking at, he didn't know, but he tried his hardest to pretend he hadn't noticed. _Hurry_, he thought. _Think of something witty to say_. Nothing came to mind.

"We are gathered here this evening to celebrate Sirius Orion Alliard Gustave Leonide Yvain Oliver Black's fifteenth birthday."

"Here, here!" Arthur interrupted, raising his glass. A stern look from Remus silenced him and the red-headed man slowly lowered his cup, shrinking a little.

"And also," Remus continued imperiously, "To welcome him back from his long journeys through the jungles of deepest Africa: the Congo."

_Lily's still looking at me…_ James couldn't fight back his smile any longer. He'd look like an idiot now if he just sat there smiling, so he just _had_ to say something. And make it look as if the funny thought had just popped into his head. He leaned across to Lily. "Wouldn't it be funny," he whispered, having no idea what he was going to say next. "If, like…"

"Sirius will arrive precisely in five, four, three…" With a dramatic flourish towards the street corner the guests could glimpse over the white picket fence of the yard, Remus sat down.

"If, like…" James was still struggling. Lily smiled a little and James lost his line of thought.

Just then, exactly on cue, Sirius waltzed around the corner, strolling towards the party. How Remus did it, no one would ever know. James' expression fell when everyone, including Lily, let out a gasp of surprise at Sirius' timing and turned to watch him stroll down the street. James' stolen thunder was quickly washed away, however, as he caught sight of his friend. He knew he'd missed Sirius, but he wasn't sure of just how much until he saw him again and his heart felt aglow. It had been too long since he'd – wait a minute, that _was_ Sirius, wasn't it?

The boy strolling down the street and entering the gate had very tan skin, shaggy black hair, dirt smudges, and was wearing a khaki Muggle explorer's outfit, complete with an Indiana Jones-style backpack which had some bits and pieces of shrubbery stuck to it. James stiffened. Could this truly be his friend?

Sirius marched purposefully through the gate, shrugged off his backpack, and took his seat at the head of the table, picking up his knife and fork and looking up at everyone as if reappearing from the Congo and taking a seat at a dinner party was the most normal thing in the world. "Boy am I famished!"

"Ladies and gentlemen," Remus continued, holding out a hand to his now-shorter friend. "Sirius Black!"

The table was silent for several seconds before everyone burst out into applause and "happy birthdays."

When the boy at the head of the table grinned widely and James glimpsed his one grey eye, he knew for certain that despite the darker skin, this was definitely his blood brother.

James got out of his chair and hugged Sirius from behind as Remus began serving the lasagna. "I missed you!"

"I missed you, too, James."

Sirius smelled of water, mud, sweat, and some strange spice. He didn't smell like Sirius at all, but he also probably hadn't bathed in two weeks. But taken in with his friend's changed appearance, James was worried that Sirius had somehow become someone else. Sitting back down, James watched Sirius politely cut up his lasagna, with all the poise of an aristocrat and started to believe that his fears were justified, only to have them shattered when Sirius unceremoniously shoved a bite that was far too big into his mouth.

James laughed, and so did Lily, and as their eyes briefly met, he knew she'd been wondering the same thing.

"Welcome home, Sirius," Remus said, taking his seat after serving everyone. "We've all missed you."

"Thank you kindly, Remus," Sirius replied after swallowing. "And thank you all for coming."

"So, tell us," Arthur said, leaning forward a little to better see the boy. "How was the Congo?"

"Hot," Sirius said, ripping off a chunk of garlic bread with his canines. "Lots and lots of insects. I even used spells to keep the mosquitos away."

James adjusted his glasses. "But… you're under-aged."

"Who's gonna find out in the Congo?"

"Fair point," James assented.

"Were there any dinosaurs?" Charlie asked.

"Yes," Sirius answered. "Lots. Several have become my friends."

"Spectacular!" Arthur gushed, earning a warning glare from his wife, lest they give their eldest son any ideas.

Molly smiled at Sirius. "Sounds like a wonderful game."

"We did play some games," Sirius continued, oblivious to her insinuation, and James knew that his friend hadn't changed at all. "But mostly we just hung out. I learned a lot."

Petunia leaned in close to Lily. "I have met this boy before, have I not?"

"Yes, at our BBQ. Remember?"

Petunia nodded. "Ah, yes. I remember him." She eyed Sirius up and down from where she sat, and she liked what she saw. "He is most… irregular. Nothing like Regular Vernon."

"I daresay he isn't," Lily replied.

"Hmm… I have interest."

Once the meal was over, Remus brought out a splendid chocolate cake. It was three layers high and Sirius couldn't stop grinning when he saw it, for Remus had taken the time to decorate it with frosting flowers and leaves to make it look like a jungle, complete with little chocolate, hand-painted dinosaurs here and there. After snapping a picture of Sirius with the cake, they all sang "Happy Birthday" and had a slice.

James had eaten a lot of cake in his time, and this one was by far among the best. Remus really did have culinary talent, though when it came to chocolate, he really shouldn't have been surprised.

Remus' parents peeked out of the window at the party and snuck a few photos before heading back into the den to watch TV. While they would've liked to join the party and chit chat with Molly and Arthur, it was more important for them that their son feel independent and practice his skills as a host. Both were convinced he'd one day run his own catering company, if not his own restaurant.

Lily then walked over to Sirius and handed him her present.

"Thanks!" Sirius said then tucked it under the table. James followed suit and handed him his gift. "Thanks!" Sirius said and tucked it under the table. Following the others' lead, the Weasleys and Remus handed Sirius their respective gifts, only to receive a "Thanks!" before Sirius stuck their gifts under the table. James worried that his friend was being unintentionally rude out of some sort of Congolese tradition. Really, though, Sirius had never been given gifts at a birthday party before and didn't have the heart to open them and destroy their wrapping. He wanted to treasure them and the thoughtfulness that went into their creation, so he'd decided to save them for later.

"Let's dance!" he suddenly announced, climbing up onto his chair, looking rather like a South American urchin. "Hit it, Remus!" He pointed at the other boy who turned on the stereo, and the air was suddenly filled with "Mambo Gelato." Sirius clapped then danced about on his chair while Charlie dashed over to a tree beside the speakers and started head-banging to the brassy tune that was very much not head-banging material.

Arthur extended his hand to Molly. "May I?"

Molly smiled bashfully. "I thought you'd never ask."

Arthur led his wife over to the tree beside their son and they began to dance. James tried his hardest not to stare at Lily, wanting nothing more than to ask her to dance, but what if she said yes? Then what?

Sirius was dancing in circles on his chair, his eyes closed and his fingers pointing to the sky as he wiggled his hips.

"Sirius, dear," Molly said, watching him over Arthur's shoulder. "You're going to fall off and get hurt."

Sirius jumped off the chair. "Come on, Lily!" He grabbed Lily's hand and yanked her over under the tree before James had the chance to even summon up the courage to look at the red-headed girl. Blushing, James watched her purple sundress fan out behind her as Sirius spun her. He was about to slam his fist against the table top when Sirius let go of Lily's hand and grabbed Charlie and started hopping about, apparently believing that dancing just meant moving. James smirked. Well, in a way, he was right.

"Come on, James, and you, too, other girl!" Sirius shouted over Charlie's shoulder to James and Petunia. Petunia gave James a small smile before rising with him and joining the dance party.

"Mambo Gelato" ended and "Mambo Italiano" by Ray Gelato began. To James' surprise, Sirius started singing along at the top of his lungs, knowing all of the lyrics, most of which were Italian. In fact, given that Sirius had gotten so dark under a sun that wasn't England's, he started to wonder if the boy with the black hair really _was_ half Italian. His father was a mystery, after all.

"Take it, Arnold!" Sirius shouted as the musical interlude section of the piece began, pointing at Arthur, and the tall man spun Molly wildly about, making her squeal with delight. James' shoulder kept accidentally bumping into Lily's as he awkwardly shifted his weight from side to side, trying to mimic some of Sirius' moves that looked so effortlessly… well, suave, for lack of a better word. "Sorry," he muttered without looking at her.

"No worries," Lily said with a smile, spinning about in a circle as she and her sister made up their own dance. She couldn't get over the fact that Petunia was smiling. Actually smiling, and being silly as she danced about. It was wonderful.

A loud bass snuck its way into the song. Sirius and Remus' canine ears picked it up from far away but ignored it until a large black car slowly pulled up to the curb and someone within shouted Sirius' name. Remus paused the music as a tinted window rolled down to reveal Rodolphus Lestrange blasting Death Eater rap. What Remus could make out of the lyrics were something like "Dark Mark/I've got a Dark Mark/To go with my dark heart/'Cuz I'm hardcore. Take it!" Followed by some sort of Voldemortian "Nyeeeeeah!" in the chorus.

"Siriuuuuus!" A female voice crooned and Sirius stepped up to the fence to see Bellatrix get out of the car. She strolled up to the fence. "Well, isn't this cut – you're black!"

"What?" Sirius furrowed his brow.

"If you don't mind," Remus shouted over Rodolphus' bass. "We're in the middle of a birthday party."

"That's precisely why I'm here," Bellatrix simpered. "I wouldn't miss my widdle cousin's big day." She smiled at Sirius, who took a step backwards.

"Thank you," Sirius said, "but I've had quite enough of your presents that secretly burst into flames."

Bellatrix scowled. "That was only once."

"Still," Sirius said.

James stepped up beside his friend. "Is there a problem here?"

The rear windows rolled down, revealing Lucius and Narcissa.

"No problem," Bellatrix said in a high-pitched voice. "Just come with us, Sirius. We're going to throw you a real party."

"Yeaaaah," Rodolphus crooned, cranking up his music while hitting a control to make the front of the car go up and down.

"Turn that down!" Bellatrix snapped before smiling at her cousin and opening the gate. "Come along, cousin." She held out her hand.

Sirius shook his head. "I don't want to."

"No one cares _what_ you want," Lucius said, sounding bored. "Just get in the damned car."

"What're you doing in a Muggle device, anyway?" James asked.

"It's not Muggle!" Rodolphus protested. "It can fly!"

"That's hardly new," Arthur chuckled.

"It's brand new!" Rodolphus shouted.

"SILENCE!" Bellatrix shrieked, holding up her wand, a vein in her temple throbbing. Molly and Arthur both covertly tugged out their wands. They may have never met Bellatrix before but her reputation preceded her. "Now," she continued with a smile, pointing her wand at Sirius. "Come along, darling."

Sirius hesitated for a heartbeat before turning and sprinting for his group of friends.

Bellatrix roared and attempted to chase after him, only to have Molly cast a shielding charm, stopping her in place. Sirius giggled at the shock on his cousin's face. "Ha-ha!"

"Yeah," Charlie joined in. "Ha-ha!"

"Loser!" James shouted. He could hear Lucius and Narcissa muttering furiously in the back seat.

"You little wretch!" Bellatrix yowled as she tried to fight her way through the force field to no avail. "I'll skin you alive!"

Sirius frowned. "That was mean."

"Of course it was mean, she's an asshole," James supplied.

Bellatrix snarled again and finally yanked back out of the force field. "Cavorting with Muggles, no less!" She pointed her wand at Petunia. "_Stupefy_!"

Sirius yanked Petunia out of the way just in time as Lily screamed.

"Enough!" Arthur roared. "Leave now before I contact the Ministry!"

"Ooo, I'm so scared," Bellatrix mocked.

"Let's just go," Lucius said from out the window. "I don't want to be seen here." He slid on a pair of shades and Narcissa copied him.

"Who cares if she's a Muggle?" Sirius snapped back at his cousin. "That doesn't make her any less of a person. But bullying – _that_ makes you less of a person, you selfish, entitled, brat!"

Bellatrix stared, a war of emotions contorting her face first one way then another. Finally, with a roar, she lunged over the fence and grabbed Sirius by the shirt. She had nearly yanked the smaller boy over the boards when James latched onto his feet in mid-air and hauled him back over.

Molly and Arthur both immediately cast stronger protective charms, and just in time, too, for Rodolphus had started sending curses towards the teens. The red jets of light bounced off of the shield. In an act of defiance, Remus pressed play and "Mambo Italiano" once again rang through the air.

Enraged, Bellatrix tried to force he way through the shield again, only to be sent backwards by a spell from Molly. Just then, a Muggle police car set off its sirens somewhere nearby. Cursing, Rodolphus yanked open the passenger's seat and Bellatrix ran to get back in, tripping along the way. All the kids at the party laughed and the black car sped off into the sky in perfect timing with the dramatic brass crescendo at the end of the song.

"Well," Molly said, straightening her cardigan as she watched the car disappear into the clouds. "I'm just going to have a small word with your parents, Remus." Arthur nodded his agreement with Molly and stood guard outside the house while his wife went in to inform Remus' parents of what had happened. The two were so entranced by the current episode of _Britain's Got Talent_ that neither had heard anything going on outside.

"Are you all right?" Lily asked Sirius, who had been partially dragged over the fence by a Death Eater on his birthday, after all.

"Yes." Though his expression was rather stoic, so neither Lily nor James were sure what to think. "I mean, I got shot at in the Congo. This is nothing."

Lily furrowed her brow. "What?"

Michael Bublé's cover of "Sway" started playing and Petunia tapped Sirius on the shoulder. He turned to face the brunette. "Thank you for protecting me," she said. "Would you like to dance?"

Sirius grinned. "Of course!" He took Petunia's hands and within moments, the two were gallivanting around the lawn.

Lily stepped up to James. "That was crazy."

"Those assholes," James muttered. "Trying to ruin his birthday. I hate his family. All of them."

"Let's just act like it didn't ruin anything," Lily suggested.

"Ruin what?" Remus asked from behind the two before skipping over to Sirius and Petunia and cutting in. Charlie joined them and the four linked hands, running in a circle. James joined in and Lily shortly after, and within minutes, all fear truly was forgotten as the group of friends ran about, each dancing to the beat of their own inner drum as a lively rendition of "Minor Swing" played. Arthur smiled as he watched the goofy teenagers. They borderline looked like escaped mental patients. But he wouldn't have them any other way.

**_Please share your thoughts! :)_**


	25. Missing the Train

_**Author's Note:**__ Hellooooo! I have failed you all! Here I thought I'd have more time to write this summer but as it turned out, I went to Disneyland for the first time, then camping, then a friend needed help with his booth at Comic Con so of course I went to that! Then company came to stay… my point is that my silence hasn't been willful! I have been working on this story here and there as I can, and I finally have a new chapter for you all. I hope your summers have been as wonderful and exciting as mine!_

**Managing Mischief**

**25. Missing the Train**

The rest of the summer passed in relative peace, which was a welcome change for James and Sirius. The two built a fort in the woods, played endless games of backyard Quidditch, and went on many day trips to the local river to float about on the hotter days. In fact, the boys were having such a great time living at their own easy pace that they didn't even notice the fact that it was now September 1st.

You see, James' parents had left for several days, assuming the boys were old enough to keep track of the date on the calendar. James and Sirius had tried, for the most part, but the problem was, they were having so much fun playing in the empty house that one day literally blended into the next. In fact, James was getting rather alarmed by how absorbed Sirius was by their game.

On the morning that he was meant to be at Platform 9 ¾, James Potter was heading downstairs in his robe, only to be tackled by a snarling Sirius pretending to be a velociraptor. James tumbled down the last few stairs with a shout and was surprised to feel Sirius' teeth on his neck.

"Dead!" Sirius announced as he leapt off the taller boy and hopped off to hide behind the couch.

"Asshole," James snapped, rubbing his neck. "Don't you wanna take a break from pretending to be a dinosaur? You've been at it for days."

"I'm not pretending. I AM a dinosaur!"

"Right." James sighed and got up, heading into the kitchen to pour himself a mug of hot water. He studied the calendar as he sipped, noticing for the first time that he hadn't checked the date in a while. "Is today the 30th or 31st?"

When Sirius didn't answer, James looked over to find the other boy miming getting stuck in a tar pit and slowly suffocating. He then collapsed onto the carpet and began to twitch. He slowly curled in his legs then stopped moving altogether.

"What're you doing?" James asked.

It took a while, but Sirius eventually whispered "Fossilizing."

James set down his mug. "I need a picture of this."

Sirius, who was now a fossil, didn't react. James headed upstairs to grab his phone and had just enough time to snap a picture before Sirius leapt to his feet and proceeded to "discover" his own fossil. "I'm a paleontologist now," Sirius said. "And I've just made the greatest discovery of my career!"

James smirked as he saved the photo on his phone. He was about to turn it off when he noticed the date. September 1st. "Sirius…"

"It's an entire fossilized skeleton, with what appear to be scale imprints in the ancient mud," Sirius narrated as he pretended to brush away sand with James' toothbrush.

"Sirius…"

"This is a massive breakthrough for our field. Ever since the extinction –" Sirius cut himself off as he pretended that the fossil came back to life and killed his nemesis: the extinction-believing paleontologist.

"Sirius, it's nearly 11!"

Sirius lay on the ground, gurgling as he held his hand to an imaginary gash at his throat.

"Crap! Grab your trunk!" Dashing the water in his mug down the drain, James darted upstairs.

Sirius slowly lifted his head and peered at him through his mop of hair. "Huh?"

"The Hogwarts Express!" James shouted from his room. "We're about to miss it!"

"Don't be silly, James," Sirius said as he sat up. "It doesn't leave for days yet."

"Today!"

Sirius hurried up the stairs and stuck his head into their shared room. "But… it's almost eleven!"

"I know!" James was frantically throwing whatever he saw into his trunk, including his pillows. When it wouldn't close, he yanked them back out.

"But I haven't got anything ready!" Sirius shouted, tugging on his hair as he climbed up onto his bed.

"Bloody hell," James growled as he fought his trunk closed. "This is why kids are meant to have sodding parents who are actually _around_!"

"My mum's –" Sirius began to bark defensively but was cut off.

"Not yours – mine! They're always gone or out on the bloody lounge chair!" Just then, his phone rang. He wouldn't have answered in such a situation unless it was one person. "Hi, Lily."

"James!" she hissed. "Where in Merlin's name are you two? We've saved a spot in our compartment but –"

"On my way!" James hanged up as he dressed.

Sirius was carefully packing his dinosaurs into the bottom of his trunk.

"We don't have time for that!" James grabbed the rest of them and threw them in.

"Oi! Careful!"

"The train's about to leave and we can't apparate. LET'S GO."

Sirius gave James a grumpy look then shut his trunk. "You don't have to be so pushy."

"Yes, I do!" James hauled his trunk out of his room and Sirius followed him. "This is all your fault! You and that bloody dinosaur game…"

"That's not fair! You were playing, too."

"If you call wandering around my own house and getting randomly attacked at all hours, as if you were a cat, playing…"

Sirius' trunk stopped just inside the doorway with a thud. He glared at James. "You dare compare me, _me_, to a C-A-T?!"

"GRAB YOUR TRUNK!"

"WE'LL MISS IT ANYWAY!"

"We have to try!" James started hauling Sirius' trunk behind him, as well. "LILY is saving a seat for me!"

"Who cares? We'll sit next to Remus, anyway." Sirius followed James. If the older boy was content lugging his trunk for him, then there was no need to strain himself by offering to pick it back up.

The veins in James' forehead were bulging as he lugged both trunks down the driveway. "Lock up the house," he grunted.

Sirius did as he was asked then skipped ahead of James, leading the way to King's Cross station. They arrived at 11:24 AM. James let the trunks fall, his face shifting from red to white. "I can't believe it…" he said brokenly. "We've missed the train."

"I'm sure plenty of kids have missed the train before," Sirius said, sounding far too chipper. "We'll just get on the next one."

James slowly looked to him. "Sirius, there is no next one."

"Not another one of ours, sure, but there are…" He leaned in and cupped a hand over James' ear as he whispered. "Muggle trains."

James wiped the sweat off his brow. "They won't get us there."

"Why not? They go north, just like ours. We get close then walk or something. We can owl once we're in a village and have a teacher come fetch us."

The taller boy just stared at the empty tracks. He didn't much like the plan, but it was the only one they had. "All right. We'll do it."

"Excellent!"

James handed Sirius some Muggle money and the smaller boy bought them two tickets. Sirius hummed to himself, swinging his feet (that didn't quite touch the ground) as they waited on a bench for their train to Scotland. James was inconsolable. Not over having missed the train to Hogwarts, but having missed out on his one chance to sit in a compartment with Lily Evans for the duration of the ride.

Once the train arrived, the two boys hauled their trunks in and took their seats. Sighing, James looked out the window while Sirius quietly read a dinosaur book. After several hours and a few stops, however, it became clear to James that their plan wasn't going to work. "Sirius… we're heading east."

"So?"

"So we ought to be heading north."

"I'm sure we will. The ticket says Kelso, as in Scotland."

James adjusted his glasses as he pulled out his ticket and read it. "It says Kelso, Lincolnshire. As in the east coast. Sirius, we're going the wrong way!"

"How was I supposed to know there were two Kelsos?"

"I don't know how you even knew there was _one_! Crap…"

Sirius pulled the emergency stop cord.

"What're you doing?" James hissed.

"Getting off!"

As the train ground to a halt, the two teens grabbed their trunks and hopped off before they'd have to answer any questions. They hid in some bushes until the engine started up again and chugged away.

"Great," James muttered. "We're gonna get expelled."

Sirius furrowed his brow. "Why?"

"Because we're so late! The Hogwarts Express is probably close to school by now!"

"Then let's start walking." Sirius grabbed his trunk and hauled it out onto the tracks. "There's a junction up ahead. We'll follow the set that goes north and we'll be there in no time."

Sighing, James pulled leaves out of his hair and followed. "My life sucks!"

Sirius rolled his eyes.

The two continued in relative silence until they reached the fork in the tracks. Sirius squinted, eyeing the sun, then turned north. James watched him silently get his bearings and realized that after all his adventures in the Congo, this must seem like a minor incident instead of the end of life as he knew it. "Well, maybe it doesn't suck," James amended. "But all this walking does."

"The human being evolved to walk over 50 miles a day, James. You'll be fine."

"You sound like a paleontologist."

Sirius whipped his head around, his long hair flying. "Do not!"

James cracked a crooked smile. "I was joking!"

Sirius shot him a skeptical glance then returned his eyes to the tracks ahead. James sighed. _Maybe things really aren't so bad, _he thought_. I mean, Lily saved a seat for me, which still counts even though I couldn't take it. And it's a beautiful day. No sign of rain and the sun is shining. Not too warm, either. Really a perfect day for a stroll. And I can totally walk fifty miles. In fact, I could probably walk a hundred…_

A flock of birds flew by overhead. "You know," James said. "This is actually kind of fun."

Sirius smiled. "I love being outside."

"Yeah. And like, this way, Lily and the others might get a little worried about us, and then like, we'll surprise them by showing up on our own."

"I hope they don't worry."

"Well, not _worry_, but worry. So that we know they like us."

Sirius blinked several times. "But we know they like us, James. That's why they're our friends."

"I know, but like, _like_ like."

Sirius' response was cut off by Elvis Presley's voice belting out "Hound Dog" as a pink convertible barreled down the tracks towards them.

James adjusted his glasses as the car approached, dust in its wake. "Where did that come from?"

"No idea."

The two boys stood to the side of the tracks as the convertible slowed. As soon as Sirius saw who was within, he stiffened. James followed his gaze and had to fight the urge to look away, for the driver was one of the ugliest women he'd ever seen, even with her shades and polka-dot headscarf. She looked as if she hadn't seen the sun in weeks, and her nose looked like it was botched in a plastic surgery. Her child in the seat next to her was just as ugly, only his nose was large and hooked and he had an odd pot belly.

"Need a ride?" the woman asked, turning down Elvis.

Sirius shook his head no and backed away.

"Come on," the child in the car said with a peculiar American accent. "It only costs 25 cents!"

The mother elbowed the child and he quieted.

"Really, it's no trouble," she said. "We're taking the back roads up north."

"Yeah," James replied, licking his lips. "Sure is a back road all right."

The woman giggled and snorted as she did so. Tempting as the thought of a car ride was instead of walking, James seriously doubted he could spend more than five minutes in the odd company of these two. "We're all right, actually. Thanks, though."

"You sure?" she asked, looking more at Sirius as she lowered her sunglasses and peered over them. Sirius enthusiastically nodded yes. "Well, all right then. Cheerio!" With that, she sped off in a cloud of dust. While he couldn't be sure, James thought he could hear the child cussing as the convertible took a wild turn and careened off the tracks and disappeared in the distance.

James giggled. "That was weird." He turned to look at Sirius to see that the tan boy had paled a bit. "What?"

"Do you need your bloody glasses adjusted?"

"No… why?"

"Did you not see who that was?" Sirius gestured at the fading dust.

James' eyes widened. "No way…"

"Yes way."

James held a hand to his head. "Wow… he's supposed to be dead, isn't he? All this time he's been in hiding…"

Sirius furrowed his brow. "Wait, what?"

"Michael Jackson," James said. "That was him, wasn't it?"

Sirius sneered slightly. "That was Lord Voldemort and Kreacher, you git!"

The tall boy's eyes widened. "Wha…?" He looked after the car but the dust had settled. "No bloody way…"

"We have to keep moving." Sirius surveyed the sky. "It'll be dark in a few hours. We'll make camp off the tracks where You Know Who can't find us."

James picked up his pace, his trunk thudding along behind him. How he wished he could use a simple floating charm on the darn thing now!

Meanwhile, the Hogwarts Express was approaching Hogsmeade and after a search of the train, Remus was growing worried over his two friends' absence. He returned to their compartment with a shake of his head as Lily met him with an expectant gaze. "Unless they're hiding in the loo, I don't see them."

Lily bit her lip and looked at her phone. "Remus… before we got on the train, James said he and Sirius were running late…"

Remus slowly sank into his seat. "Then… they…."

"Missed the train," Lily supplied with a grimace.

Remus swallowed hard. "James' mum could apparated them to Hogsmeade and from there they could –"

"His mum's gone. And his dad. Sirius' parents – or should I say parent – is no help, either."

Remus nibbled on his thumbnail as he looked out the window at the darkening countryside as the train slowed. "Knowing those two, they're trying to make it here on their own. But they never will."

Lily stiffened. "Right. We've got to tell a teacher."

"Exactly."

Darkness had already settled in the countryside further south, and Sirius prodded at the flames of a small fire he had started from a bird's nest and some flint and steel he had tucked into his trunk. He carefully added more branches then sat down next to James, flicking his long hair out of his face. "That's better."

James was hunched in a ball and kept glancing around him into the dark nervously. "Are you sure, like, there are no predators?"

Sirius arched a brow, not that it was very visible. "Unless you're worried about giants and centaurs, I think you're safe. The last bear in the UK died in the Dark Ages."

James stiffly uncurled a bit. "It did?"

"Duh. Everyone knows that."

"Oh… yeah… right." James nodded and scooted a little closer to the flames. "So we can actually, like… sleep out here?"

Sirius stretched out on his back. "Why not?"

"I mean, we don't exactly have pillows or…" James waited for Sirius to jump in with an explanation of how one builds pillows and blankets while camping, but the other boy was silent. "I mean, I will have to go to the bathroom. Eventually."

"Just pee in the bushes."

"No, like… the other one."

"We haven't even eaten!"

"Don't remind me," James groaned. He'd been banishing thoughts of pizza all day. "What do you reckon they're having at the welcome feast right now? The first years ought to be sorted by now."

Sirius sighed. "Trust me, thinking about food when you're hungry isn't a good –" There was a pop from the railroad tracks in the distance. Then another. And another. Sirius scrambled to his feet with his wand as James did the same.

"Was that – "

"Apparating."

"So they're – "

"Death Eaters."

James swallowed hard and stepped up to his best friend's side as three hooded figures slinked out of the darkness.

"We're not allowed to use magic," James muttered. "Crap."

Sirius flicked his bangs out of his eyes and tried to make himself appear taller than he was.

"Siriusss Black, and Jamesss Potter," Voldemort hissed as he lowered his hood. "What a pleasssant sssurprise."

The two other Death Eaters remained masked. One held a wand and a chest, and the other held a… boombox? Voldemort nodded to his associates and one set down what turned out to be an ice chest and popped it open while the other started playing Finger Eleven's "Paralyzer." Voldemort nodded his head to the beat as he stepped up closer to the two confused teens.

"Mind if we… hang out?" Voldemort asked, resting a hand on Sirius' shoulder. Sirius cringed and James' hand tightened on his wand. "You see…" Voldemort flicked his wand and both James and Sirius' flew into his hand. "We were just passsing by and sssaw your fire. Nothing like drinksss with friendsss, hmm?" With that, he forced Sirius to sit down and after one red-eyed look, James did the same.

"I've already told you," Sirius began, and James could tell from the way his friend's voice was shaking that he was scared. "I don't want to be your friend. I'm sorry."

"You sssay that," Voldemort crooned as zapped a log over to him then sat down on it beside Sirius, his hand still on the small boy's shoulder. "But how do you know? We've never even hung out before."

"Um, the fact that you're a psychopath probably doesn't help," James said casually. The other two Death Eaters immediately directed their wands at him and he froze, deer-like, the fire glinting in his glasses. "Whoa…"

"Ssso let'sss all jussst calm down and have sssome fun, shall we?" Voldemort said as he used the Accio spell to shoot a bottle of firewhiskey into his hand. He nodded to one of his minions and the music was cranked up. James and Sirius exchanged a worried look.

Voldemort took a swig of the firewhiskey then passed it along to his minions, who each took a gulp as they bobbed to the music. One handed the bottle to James who sneered. "I'm not touching that shit."

Voldemort hissed but his hiss morphed into a laugh. "All the more for us, then!" He offered the bottle to Sirius who took one whiff and winced. Sighing, Voldemort took another gulp. The bottle was passed around several more times until the two minions were dancing to "Sexy And I Know It" while Voldemort lip-synched and mimed that he was on stage. "This is sssooo my sssong!" he shouted as loudly as he could.

James looked to Sirius. In his enthusiasm over LMFAO, the Dark Lord had left their wands abandoned on the log. Sirius met James' gaze and nodded once before inching his hand towards their discarded weapons. Voldemort whipped his head around and Sirius froze, but a second later he whipped it to the other side as he wiggled to the chorus of "Girl, look at that body." Relieved, Sirius snatched their wands and shoved James' into his hand.

Before they could form a plan, however, James was on his feet and had his wand leveled at the Dark Lord. Voldemort slowly stopped dancing and hissed, his minions flanking him. "Kill him."

James blinked. "Oh, shit."

Sirius shoved James aside as the two Death Eaters pointed their wands at him, but before a single green light was fired, the two minions were simultaneously hit by consecutive red blasts. The Death Eaters were knocked off their feet and James, Sirius, and Voldemort whipped their heads around to spot the source of the attack, only to see none other than Minerva McGonagall descending on a broom, her wand leveled at Voldemort.

The two glared at each other for several seconds before both shouted spells. McGonagall's shield charm protected her from Voldemort's killing curse, but the witch dodged nevertheless. A spell from one of the downed Death Eaters went awry and hit the log, shattering it into dozens of splinters. James threw himself over Sirius to shield his friend from the wooden shrapnel while Sirius barked in surprise.

McGonagall fired back and knocked the Death Eater unconscious before dodging another spell from Voldemort and firing one right back, "Sexy And I Know It" playing throughout their battle. With a hiss, Voldemort took to the sky, grabbed his boom box and disapparated.

Panting, McGonagall lowered to the ground and casually zapped the second Death Eater when he started to stir. Sirius and James, a little singed but otherwise unhurt, stared up at their professor in wide-eyed awe. She had just taken on the Dark Lord and won.

"Now," she began. "Which one of you wants to tell me what you're doing out here?"

Stiffly untangling themselves from each other, the boys got to their feet. "We missed the train," Sirius said quietly, dusting himself off and looking around at the charred craters from the spells that had missed their marks.

"We thought we'd…" James began.

"Walk?" McGonagall finished. "And where, may I ask, is the common sense in _that_?"

Both teens looked shamefully to the ground.

"You're lucky you weren't killed!"

"We didn't know You Know Who was gonna show up," James muttered.

"Who?"

"It's what we call Lord Voldemort," Sirius said, finally looking up. "Thank you for helping us, Professor."

McGonagall adjusted her robes. "Believe it or not, I do have better things to do than go hunting for two wayward students after dark, but you're welcome, Mr. Black. If Miss Evans hadn't told me when she did, I don't know what state I would have found you in."

James' dark thoughts were cut off by the memory of red hair. "Lily told you?"

"Yes." McGonagall cast a charm above the unconscious Death Eaters to notify the Ministry. "She and Mr. Lupin were concerned. You should count yourselves lucky to have such devoted friends."

James slowly grinned. Sirius mimicked McGonagall and began scuffing dirt over the scorch marks to hide them from Muggles. When they were done, the Head of Gryffindor used a spell to lengthen her broom then the three flew to Hogwarts.

Once safe inside the hallway outside the Great Hall, McGonagall fixed the two with a stern look. "Now, rumors began to spread as soon as the other students noticed that we professors were, well, flustered. So please, do your best to not cause a scene?"

Both boys nodded. "Professor, could I talk to you later about something? It's important." James asked.

"I'll be in my office tonight."

Sirius shot James a questioning look but James quelled his curiosity with a "it's nothing" expression, for he didn't know how to tell his friend that he felt the need to warn their Head of House about the events over the summer and the Dark Lord's obsession with the heir of the House of Black.

McGonagall pushed open the large double doors and the chatter inside immediately quieted as all heads turned to the entryway. Once James and Sirius stepped in, the hall erupted in cheers. You see, the rumor was that not only had the boys battled with Death Eaters, but that they were killed in the battle. Seeing them both alive and well, if not a little dirty, set everyone's heart's alight, though a few people weren't quite sure if Sirius _was_ Sirius given his darker complexion.

Lily and Remus rose from their seats and ran over to the two. Though Remus hugged them both, the only hug that James remembered from that night was Lily's.

_***In Kreacher's husky voice* 25 cents for your thoughts? ;)**_


	26. The Headless Horseman

_**Author's note:**__ I once again apologize for my extended absence. Happy Halloween! Enjoy! _

**Managing Mischief**

**26. The Headless Horseman**

After Professor McGonagall heard of the Dark Lord's inappropriate harassment of Sirius, she took away the boy's cell phone. Phones didn't work inside of Hogwarts anyway, but she felt safer knowing that Voldemort's only means of contacting the boy were no longer with him. The phone was now safely powered off and locked in her desk drawer.

James and Sirius adjusted to life back at school without a hitch. Returning to their dorm had felt like coming home in many ways. Yet that isn't to say there weren't without surprises.

For one, Peter was now much bigger than he was in June, yet he hadn't grown upwards an inch. The rotund boy was now even wider, and with his new, deep voice, the other boys had trouble reminding themselves that he was the same Peter. For in fact, he was rather changed. Quieter and more withdrawn, he paid his roommates little heed when he was around them and preferred to spend his time with a group of Hufflepuffs he had befriended that summer. They met whenever they could and played role play games.

Remus gave them the biggest surprise when, just one week into their new school year, he walked through the common room hand in hand with Susan Pevensie (not the one you're thinking of from a certain wardrobe… but feel free to picture her!). James did a double-take as the two gave each other gaga eyes and slipped out through the portrait.

"Whoa," he said to no one in particular, though Sirius was nearby on his window seat and Lily was reading within earshot. "Did anyone else just see that?"

"See what?" Sirius asked.

"This," James said emphatically before dropping his quill to link his hands together. "With Remus and Susan."

Sirius continued to stare with an unchanged expression and James realized the younger boy didn't have a clue.

"Since when do they even know each other?" James asked.

"Honestly," Lily muttered from her corner.

James' head snapped to her. "Wha?"

Lily set down her book. "They started going out yesterday."

"How do you know?" Sirius asked, as if she'd just revealed the location of the next Death Eater attack.

"Because Susan is in my dorm, that's why," Lily answered.

James and Sirius exchanged a skeptical look. "Remus wouldn't start dating someone without telling us," James reasoned. "I mean, he's never even _mentioned_ her."

Lily shrugged and picked her book back up. "Maybe he didn't want you to gossip."

James adjusted his glasses. He didn't gossip… did he?

At length, the three headed down for dinner and James was surprised to find that Remus was sitting in the middle of the Gryffindor table, next to Susan, instead of on their end. The two were giggling and taking bites of food off of each other's plates. James was embarrassed for him.

Sirius, for his part, didn't notice Remus' preoccupation with Susan and instead focused on scarfing down food. In fact, the reality of the change to their group of friends didn't hit him for another week when he realized that he now had no one to spend time with when James was maniacally practicing Quidditch, often on his own.

He knew that Remus and Susan spent most of their time together in the library, but he didn't quite feel like cloistering himself with books and silence and the two lovebirds. So it was that he often found himself alone on his window seat, looking out at the grounds below, waiting until James came in from throwing the snitch to himself.

On one such afternoon a few weeks into the school year, Lily realized that she also had no one to spend time with. Marge was more often than not hanging out with her fellow Slytherins these days, and her Hufflepuff friend wasn't very interesting on her own, for the girl did little more than agree with everything Lily said, never offering her own opinion.

Lily slumped into the small space beside Sirius on the window seat. "Not half as exciting as this summer, is it?"

Sirius turned his gaze to her with a crooked smile. "Not nearly."

"Where's your other half?"

Sirius looked down, as if worried that he'd been truncated.

Lily arched a brow. "James."

"Oh! He's out playing fetch."

"Shouldn't that be your game?"

"Only if I have someone to throw the ball," he said moodily.

"Well," Lily said as she stood up. "Let's go then."

Sirius swung his legs over. "Where?"

"Anywhere. It's a beautifully sunny day. We don't have many of those left!"

Smirking, Sirius hopped off his seat and followed her out. As they walked side by side, Lily noticed a few other students glancing her way. She knew they were wondering why she, Lily Evans, was walking with none other than Sirius Black, her sworn enemy. But so much had changed this summer, and not only was she unashamed to be seen with the boy, but realized that she was rather proud to have him as her friend.

Sirius grinned when he saw Fang sniffing around outside of Hagrid's hut. Lily followed his gaze.

"Is he your friend?"

"Watch this!" After making sure no one was around to see, Sirius surprised Lily by morphing into Padfoot and darting off down the hill, barreling towards Fang. The larger dog let out a loud, resonating bark then fell into a play bow.

Padfoot slowed as he approached then walked slowly towards Fang, as if he were stalking him. Fang kept his eyes locked onto Padfoot's blue ones. Then suddenly, Padfoot darted and Fang tore off after him, and the two chased each other around on the grass, play fighting and snarling. Lily laughed as she watched the two wrestle, and wondered what it must be like to turn into a dog. Padfoot must have a lot of dog instincts, she realized, for him to know how to play with Fang so expertly.

Seeing as the two canines showed no sign of letting up their wrestling, Lily sat down on the grass and closed her eyes, letting the weakening sun warm her face. This summer had felt endless, and had been so wrought with panic and adventure that it was nice to return to Hogwarts and the old routines.

She was so lost in her musings and memories that, nearly an hour later, she didn't notice Padfoot morph back into Sirius. The boy crept up behind her then pounced, tackling her onto the grass. Lily let out a surprised squawk that morphed into a giggle.

"Jerk!" she scolded, even as she smashed a handful of grass against his cheek, staining it green.

Sirius rose to his feet then helped her up, his hair going every which way, held in place by Fang's slobber..

"Did you see what he did?" Sirius asked, suddenly indignant. "He bit my…" He peered over his shoulder, searching for an appendage that wasn't there. "Tail."

"Well, that's not very nice, is it?" Lily asked as she dusted the grass and pebbles off of her hands. "Does it still hurt?"

"Yeah…" Sirius rubbed his backside, looking perplexed. "Even though it's no longer there."

"Is it normal for dogs to bite each other's tails?"

"Only on Tuesdays and bank holidays," Sirius said as he scampered ahead of her, heading back towards the castle. Lily rolled her eyes as she followed him. _If only I had half that energy…_ she thought.

They had been right to go out in the sun when they did, for the next day it was raining. Not that the watery air stopped James from heading out to yet another solo Seeker practice. By the time he called it quits, the sun was setting and he was soaked to the bone. Trudging up the stairs to the common room, all he could think of was getting out of his wet clothes and warming by the fire.

On his way up to the dormitory, he dimly registered Sirius and Lily sitting on the window seat together. On his way back down, however, he couldn't look away… because Lily's hip was touching Sirius' as they laid side by side. How did Sirius always get the girls? It was like he was secretly one of them. What James would give to trade places with him right now… because Lily was laughing and resting her hand on Sirius' forearm as she did so, and the git seemed oblivious, as if he didn't realize that he was being blessed by an angel.

Slumping down in front of the fire with a huff, James folded his arms over his knees, catching the attention of the two.

"Hi, James," Sirius greeted, sounding far too chipper for James' liking. He merely grunted in response.

"A bit miserable, huh?" Lily asked, taking in his sodden hair.

"A little, yeah," James muttered.

"Lily," Sirius drawled in a voice James had never heard before. "I wish you were always here."

James chanced a glance over at the two and outright stared when he saw that Sirius' arms were around the red head's waist.

"I _am_ always here, Sirius. I have been since I was eleven." She stroked one of Sirius' arms and James felt his stomach turn to jelly. He was half convinced that he'd been sucked up in a tornado while in the wind outside and had come out in an alternate reality where his best friend and the girl of his dreams were… dating.

"No," Sirius continued. "I mean right here. It's much warmer with you here."

"Because you're lying on the side by the window, you doof."

Sirius's giggle and James's frantic race to rein in his thoughts were cut off by Helga Juicer, a Ravenclaw, entering the common room with one of her Gryffindor friends.

"Anyone wanna watch a scary movie?" she asked, holding up the DVD of _Sleepy Hollow_. "It's my special edit of only the scary scenes. It's wicked cool."

A few of the Gryffindors agreed and meandered over to the table where Helga set up her laptop. Lily and Sirius could see from their cozy nest on the window seat and didn't budge. The action, or lack of, wasn't unnoticed by James.

He glared furiously at the rug beneath him, telling himself over and over that what he was seeing wasn't happening. That his best friend wouldn't betray him like that. It was just normal old Sirius being cluelessly affectionate, right? Then why did Lily seem so… comfortable with it? No, no, no, no, no, no this wasn't real…

It was five minutes into Helga's _Sleepy Hollow _edit that James realized he was nearly hyperventilating. He knew he was overreacting but he couldn't help it. His whole world had just been turned on end, and even though a small, logical part of his mind reminded him that that probably wasn't the case, he couldn't listen to it. He'd lost Lily. It was all over.

Sirius' scream jerked James out of his spiraling thoughts. The boy was now a ball behind Lily, curled up as if in an earthquake drill. It took James a second until he saw why. There, on the laptop screen, was the headless horseman decapitating people. James watched the murderous scenes with surprising numbness. After all, what were a few dead strangers in the face of his eternal suffering? The headless horseman wasn't so far off his rocker after all, was he?

Another squeak came from the window as Lily shushed Sirius, focusing on the film, completely nonplussed.

"It's not that scary," she whispered.

"It's horrifying!" was Sirius' muffled reply.

"It's all just pretend. He isn't real."

"How do you know?"

"Because it's a movie. He's an actor who some Muggle paid."

Sirius slowly uncurled and cautiously stole a peek at the screen again. Johnny Depp, to whom Remus' special telephone inexplicably connected, was investigating one of the murders. Calming down, Sirius was just beginning to enjoy himself when the scene suddenly changed to a woman screaming as her door was broken down by the headless horseman, carrying the head of her husband. Helga cackled at her edit while Sirius cowered behind Lily once more. The red head patted his shoulder and held his hand while she watched.

James had seen enough. Rising, he headed up to the dormitory where he found Peter immersed in a comic book. The round boy gave him an annoyed look, as if the dorm were his own room and James had just trespassed, then rose and left, muttering something about having a role play meeting anyway.

Sighing, James sank down onto his bed. What in the name of Merlin was happening to his friends? Peter was unrecognizable, Remus was suddenly a ladies man and was rarely apart from Susan, and now Sirius and Lily? It was all too much.

After some effort, he managed to calm his breathing and his racing heart so that he could try to reason out what he had witnessed. Sirius was rather affection-starved, and even if he wasn't, he was still an affectionate guy. Maybe this was just him being himself and treating Lily as if she were James (it was) and not a budding romance (it wasn't). But that brief rational thought was flung from his mind the moment Sirius darted through the door and dove under his covers.

James found himself glowering at his friend and had to shake his head to change the expression. What was wrong with him?

"Don't go out there," Sirius whined. "It's terrible!"

"What, cutting off heads a bit much for you?"

The edge in James' voice made Sirius peek out. "You don't think it's scary?"

"No. It's pretend. Scary is facing down the Dark Lord because he's obsessed with you. Scary is having to fight Death Eaters when I'm not even legally allowed to use magic. Scary is thinking your best friend just got kidnapped by a pedo."

Sirius furrowed his brow. "What's a pedo?"

"And after all that… after my sacrifices… letting you stay with us… you… you…" He didn't know where he was going with this but he knew it wouldn't be kind, and the memory of the fight he and Sirius had that summer stayed his tongue. "Just…" James sighed and rubbed his eyes behind his glasses. "Sometimes I feel like I have nothing to show for it all."

"Of course you do. You're the bravest person I know, James," Sirius said, sitting up.

James smirked a little despite himself. "Really?"

"Of course. You've done loads of brave things. Like sneaking that biscuit off Dumbledore's plate."

"Yeah…" James smiled stupidly. "Guess I am pretty manly."

"Well, I wouldn't go that far."

James' eyes flashed and he looked Sirius up and down. "So, since when are you and Lily besties?"

Sirius shrugged. "You're always off playing fetch with yourself."

"And? It's called becoming a professional Quidditch player…"

"And Remus is off with Susan. Peter acts like I smell every time I see him, when really, _he's_ the one who smells. Like rotten eggs and mildew."

James winced. "I know what you mean."

"_You_ know how nice Lily is."

"Yeah, I do, which is why I like her," James said, blushing as he did so. It was no secret, but somehow saying it with such a definitive air made it more real.

"I do, too."

The color drained from James' face. His worst nightmare was coming true before his eyes. His best friend was stealing his almost-maybe-but-not-really-ever girlfriend. In fact, Sirius had, in his Sirius way, interpreted James' comment at face value and responded in kind. So he was quite confused when James' fists clenched.

"You all right?" Sirius asked.

"Sirius… you _knew_ I liked her. You knew it all summer. This isn't fair. After everything I've done for you?"

Still missing the point, Sirius rose and combed a hand through his hair. "And didn't you notice that _I_ noticed this summer how nice Lily was? Of course I like her. We can both like her, you know. I mean, she likes both of us." Sirius listened at the door to see if the film was still being played. Instead, he heard Helga bragging about how much she loved gore. The coast was clear. "I'm going to dinner. See you there."

Sirius slipped out, leaving a very confused, and very enraged James behind. The tall boy had no idea what to do with the hatred that had washed over him from Sirius' statement. How could his best friend so nonchalantly mention that he also had feelings for Lily? As of he wasn't stealing her from James?

With a growl, James punched his pillow. Emotions and hormones were swirling inside of him, more so than normal for a teenaged boy. There were many reasons young people were not supposed to become animagi, and one of them was the risk of their biology being tampered with by that of their animal form. In this case, deer and the rut.

"Look out," a voice said behind James and he turned around to spot Remus entering the room, adjusting his tie. "It might fight back."

Huffing, James sat down on his bed.

"Anything you want to talk about?" Remus asked.

"Not particularly," James replied through grit teeth.

Remus nodded, taking in his friend's taut shoulders and tense spine and decided to try small talk. "Did you hear about the haunted maze?"

"What maze?"

"Dumbledore's setting one up as a sort of autumn carnival. Like how the yanks have Halloween. Only this one is just a spooky maze, like a haunted house, but there'll be candy stands and such outside for when you make it out the other side."

"Huh," James grunted, trying to sound interested.

"Anyone can sign up to be an actor in maze. It sounds fun but, it'll be close enough to the full moon as it is, so I figure I ought to sit it out."

James nodded, an idea forming in his mind. "Yeah… doesn't mean I have to, though."

Remus grinned. "Go for it."

"I just might. And I just might go headless."

And so it was that when October 1st and the haunted maze arrived, James was suiting up behind the scenes as none other than the headless horseman with the specific intent of scaring the wits out of his best friend. He didn't fully understand his motivation, but the idea of seeing Sirius screaming and running from him made him smile, and the insurmountable urge to chase off the competition for his doe was paramount.

Sirius, for his part, had noticed James' recent aloofness and as such, instinctively gravitated towards his one friend who wasn't behaving strangely: Lily. As such, the two headed down to the haunted maze together and stood in line.

Lily tugged on his arm. "Look."

There ahead were Susan and Remus, their arms intertwined. Susan rested her head on Remus' shoulder. Remus kissed the top of her head then slung his arm around her waist. Sirius and Lily exchanged an uncomfortable look. Lily was about to say something when a child in a mini car sped past. The two stared in shock over what they had just seen.

The girl drove her small car, for which she was almost too big, up to Susan and Remus and honked. Cringing, Susan looked down at the girl, who bore some resemblance to her (and possibly a passing resemblance to one Lucy Pevensie…) then immediately looked away.

The girl huffed then honked her little horn again. "I want to go in," she whined in a baby voice that was completely ill-suited for her age.

"I'm sorry, Mario Cart, but you can't. You have to be over twelve. It's too scary."

Mario Cart, as the other students had nicknamed the first year younger sister of Susan due to her obsession with riding around in a small car all the time, was eleven. The theory was that the girl had a handicap that prevented her from walking, hence her only mobility was through the cart. The girl could walk just fine, but she had a severe case of arrested development and preferred to have everyone think of her as a goofy child rather than a tween.

"But I _want_ to," Mario Cart huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and sticking out her lower lip as if she were in a play.

"You can't," Susan snapped. "Now take your cart and drive away. You're bothering me."

"You're mean," Mario Cart whined. "I'm only six!"

And with that, she peeled out and headed up to the castle.

Sirius growled lowly as the cart sped past. The dog in him couldn't stand things with wheels like that. He didn't know if he wanted to chase it or run from it, but he certainly knew he didn't like it.

"Have you seen James?" Lily asked, attempting to divert his attention lest he run off after the cart.

"I think he's worried he won't make it on the team this year or something, because he's _always_ practicing and when he isn't, he's grumpy."

"Why wouldn't he make it? He's a great Seeker."

Sirius shrugged. While he enjoyed Quidditch, he would never understand James' obsession with the sport.

At length it was their turn to go in. Filch was running the entrance and sorted the students into groups of four. Lily and Sirius were relieved to find themselves in Susan and Remus' group. Whimpering was coming from off to the side, and Lily assumed it was a sound effect for the haunted maze, until she realized that it was a boy.

Jason White, the Gryffindor oddball, was standing on the sidelines, crying quietly as he twisted his shirttails, muttering barely audible "Ohmigod"s over and over again. Whatever was in the maze had thoroughly frightened him. Sirius followed Lily's gaze and gulped. He clomped onto her arm.

The gates opened and Filch ushered the four into the maze with a wave of his lantern.

"Oh Merlin, Remus…" Susan whined, hugging her boyfriend.

Remus merely chuckled. "Relax. It's only other students."

"But still. Things will pop out at –" A Hufflepuff sprang out from behind a corner. "Me!"

Sirius and Lily both jumped then laughed over how high Susan had sprung. This wasn't so bad.

They followed the twists and turns in the dark, occasionally hearing eerie sounds and being startled by students in costumes. Near the end of the maze was a wide wooded area.

Susan looked around suspiciously, but relaxed once nothing showed any sign of popping up out of the trees.

"This must be the end," she said.

Lily was about to agree when she heard it. Hoofbeats. Echoing behind them.

Sirius' face turned white as the sound registered.

Then, out of the shadows, charged a hippogriff. A flash of lightning revealed a headless horseman on top, carrying a jack o' lantern for his head.

With a unified scream, the four scattered, each sprinting to get out of the way. To Sirius' terror, the horseman swerved his mount and followed him. Sirius screamed again, running as fast as he could. If he'd had half a rational thought, he would've morphed into Padfoot and escaped much faster. As it was, he tripped on a root and was sent tumbling down a leafy embankment. Scrambling to his knees, he looked up to see the horseman rearing on his hippogriff in the lightning wings outstretched.

"Lily!" Sirius screamed, but the others were nowhere within earshot.

Just then, footsteps sounded to his left and Sirius got to his feet just in time to see none other than Severus Snape barreling towards him. Only the boy wasn't on the prowl. In another flash of lightning, Sirius noticed tears streaking his cheeks. Snape was terrified out of his wits.

The hippogriff bellowed out a caw and reared again as the headless rider raised his jack o' lantern, which was suddenly on fire. Snape collided with Sirius and the two grabbed each other and screamed in unison as the horseman charged them.

The flaming jack o' lantern flew through the air and splintered at their feet, causing the two boys to run. The horseman once again charged after Sirius, and he screamed as a hand reached down and grabbed him by the scruff, lifting him off his feet. Kicking wildly, trying to free himself, he was suddenly flung into a pile of leaves. He landed on his side and looked up but couldn't see anything in the dark. Then he heard the sound of the hippogriff's hooves fading.

Snape wailed as he raced past and Sirius sprang to his feet and followed him. The two boys sprinted out of the exit and collapsed on the ground.

Lily had been waiting outside for Sirius, giggling with Susan and Remus over how thrilling that final chase had been, when she saw the state of her two black-haired friends. Snape was still quietly sobbing and Sirius looked as if he'd just been at a sleepover with his cousins.

"Are you all right?" Lily asked, falling to her knees beside the two.

Snape shoved away her helping hand, got to his feet, and sprinted off, ashamed to be seen in such a state.

"It tried to kill us," Sirius gasped, his eyes wide. "It was real! It grabbed me and tried to run off!"

"What did?" Remus asked, his shoulders stiffening, as if prepared to fight off the attacker.

"The Headless Horseman!"

Lily helped Sirius to his feet. "It was just pretend, Sirius. Part of the maze."

"No, it wasn't. He really was after me!"

"This is why we don't let him watch Muggle movies," Remus muttered.

"Let's go get some caramel corn," Lily suggested with a smile as she plucked leaves out of Sirius' hair. He nodded and followed, but was hugging her arm the whole time.

Later that night, when Sirius, Susan and Remus were playing a carnival game of whack a gnome, Lily spotted James sipping cider and laughing with a group of fellow Gryffindors. And he was in the headless horseman costume. He glanced over in Sirius' direction without a hint of guilt in his eyes.

Lily narrowed her gaze. She didn't know what sort of game he was playing, but she didn't like it one bit.

**Please let me know what you think!**


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